Sin's Child
by A2D the Colourblind Zebra
Summary: Pride pretends not to remember his past, but he does, and one day after visiting Father he sleeps, dreaming of his creation, and through all the life he'd rather forget, because beneath his arrogant veneer is the deepest loathing for how he used to be.
1. A Family Formed from Sin

Proper summary (hate that character limit!): 

Pride doesn't care much for the past. The times when he was actually a child, a time before his 'siblings'. Perhaps he doesn't wish to recall that past of his. What was he once like to make the arrogant sin ashamed of even thinking about it? Mostly Pre-series. Mangaverse. Slight Lust-Pride friendship. Spoilers for chapter 70 (to 106) onwards.

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A/N: Since I'm taking a break from my other story I've decided to make this one instead, let's call it my practice to keep Pride in character. I apologise to everyone who wants me to update the other. I've made him such a paranoid evil thing in this and I'm sure that's not what I was going for…hope it's ok enough…

This was partially inspired by the events of chapter 106…so spoilers for that too, but because of that I feel like I'm on a time limit since I've had to make lots of random theories to explain some things and they'll probably be disproved in later chapters (with 107 out in…a few days, that's what I get for being lazy…)

Anyway so this is an origin story (so original…) even though the first chapter probably won't imply that (the flashback starts on chapter 3, but don't skip this part, you'll miss Mrs. Bradley in chapter 2!). So this starts just before Greed encounters Pride in chapter 74 (I think I've turned rather bitter since Brotherhood cut that scene…). Since I really wonder how Pride used to interact with the other homunculi or what he used to be like when it was just him and Father…

Well I've said too much… on with the fic before I spoil the whole plot!

But before I forget

FMA belongs to Hiromu Arakawa.

Oh and I'll be using the British English spelling of things

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter One: A Family formed from Sin**

Acting was easy, after so long he was rather used to it, humans were easily manipulated: smile, pretend to read, drink tea, ask about Edward Elric, talk about impossible childish desires and ambitions, any number of these in succession would convince anyone he happened to meet that he was just the overly optimistic son of the Fuhrer and nothing more. Even before he had begun this game of house he was more than adept at imitating a child, to unassuming humans he would never be regarded as anything other than such, which often led him to unwittingly slip into his expected persona, it had become quite the habit.

Maybe that was why he enjoyed the times when he didn't need to act, the times when he could act his age and be treated as something other than a child. Such times were few and far between, finding a time when he wasn't being intellectually tortured by his tutor or stalked by numerous bodyguards was rather difficult, for the latter he opted to instead walk around briskly and aimlessly until he could no longer see them hiding behind walls in the corners of his eyes. After two years of it he could understand why Wrath often had to resort to climbing through windows or simply failing to turn up to escape his duties as the country's leader. Though he could see the resemblance in their situations he held no sympathy for his 'little brother'. Nameless pawns in uniforms were nothing compared to _her_, if anything Wrath had- by far- the easier task.

The tapping of shoes on concrete echoed throughout the tunnel, causing agitated growls from the chimaeras above, he ignored them, musing about _her_, he'd surely be scolded when he returned 'home', he was fully aware of what she was capable of, that was why Wrath had chosen her. While he disliked getting scolded (for obvious reasons) his face was calm, confident in the knowledge that once again his innocent appearance would exploit her maternal instincts, saving him from any real punishment, besides, he would never admit being cautious of a _human_.

_The world's a big place; I don't think you understand that Selim…you mustn't run off like that, what if something where to happen to you? Well…I'd never forgive myself…_

That's what she'd say. He smiled, reasoning that he perhaps liked getting 'scolded' from time to time, since it usually ended in her doting on him and making him promise never to 'run off' again. He'd undoubtedly break that promise, but that was part of her role as a mother, he considered himself the perfect child, he just had more important things to attend to, that was all. Having never had something to call a 'mother' before the eldest homunculus wondered whether their false relationship could survive if she ever found out the truth about her 'family', probably not, but then again, she never would, before that happened the promised day would arrive and then all of Father's plans would come to fruition- and that was all that mattered.

He glanced around, apparently Greed was patrolling around Father's lair, but he had seen no sign of the younger homunculus, he had always cared more about his own best interests than Father's. He could recall when Greed was born, the third if his memory wasn't deceiving him, after Lust and before Envy, embodying Father's own sense of avarice, lasting a mere hundred years before considering himself too restrained and promptly leaving. This 'new' Greed was proving himself to be at least tolerable from what little he'd seen of him, but he saw it as only a matter of time until he ended up betraying Father again. Of course, _he_ was above such an ungrateful, selfish thing as running away from his creator.

A large door was now all that stood in front of him, he'd been musing for far too long, he forced a blink, he needed to look perfect for Father, couldn't be caught half asleep. He checked his new clothes for dust and his shoes for blood, an audience with Father deserved nothing but the best, which had been conveniently provided him by the Bradley family's tailor (not bad… for a human, he admitted), fitting clothes for a homunculus, matching the colour scheme of those of his 'siblings', a black suit with a crimson tie. He wasn't too fond of this custom attire, having become so used to wearing shorts, but such an occasion had called for it, to which he could excuse the mild discomfort the pants brought.

Somewhat satisfied, he slowly pushed open the door, shadowed hands tugging at the bottom of his pants' legs, others running sharp fingers through his hair- making last minute adjustments.

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It seemed that all his preparations had been in vain as he gazed upon Father's slumped form, he sighed, his shadow twitching irritably

_Sleeping…_

Father didn't sleep very often, but when he did he could sleep for several days, but the homunculus would never so much as think him lazy, Father was without such human emotions and habits, he was always preoccupied with something, he deserved a rest more than anyone else.

The homunculus heard faint echoing footsteps from behind, he ignored it, feeling rather disheartened, strange for him, he thought. After a moment he decided the noise to be marginally more important and he pushed the feeling aside.

_"Well this is a rare sight; you almost never come by…Pride"_

He tried to turn, but seemingly unable to, he could feel something else, something deeper than disappointment, he couldn't place it nor name it, but his first thought was that it was wrath- no, it couldn't be that, feeling that was impossible, he had left all emotions he didn't require with Father, who had in turn cast them aside. Wrath simply did not –_could not_- exist in him, there was no wrath, or lust, or envy, or gluttony, or sloth or-

"Greed." Pride quickly discarded the thought, turning to face the younger homunculus, slipping into his usual façade, though it wasn't required he decided to consider it 'humouring' his 'little brother' "please do not forget that I have to keep up appearances."

"I guess, so what's dad up to?"

"He's sleeping"

"Heh, two rare things in one day." Greed paused, joining his older brother in observing their creator "Hey, Pride." Pride stared up with doe eyes, his voice still that which he used in the outside world  
"What is it?" Greed leaned in closer, voice lowering to almost a whisper "What do you think dad's dreaming about?" Pride didn't answer, he knew that human based homunculus could dream, so it was no surprise that Greed did. The first homunculus was prone to the odd dream as well, but had never considered that Father could dream too, it perplexed him.  
"Dreaming?"  
"Regular homunculi dream too don't they?" Pride dropped his act instantly  
**"Do not put us on the same level as Father, Father is…Father is…"** he hissed, but quickly regained his composure; Father wouldn't be pleased if he woke to see his children fighting, even if it was Greed's fault.  
"What? I didn't mean- Okay okay, fine, I know. _Father's far superior_. But ain't like Father's a human…so, he must be a homunculus, right…_Big bro?_" Pride remained silent, the innocent sparkle in his eyes gone, replaced with a soulless glare, he turned his back on his 'little brother', eyes sliding shut with a sigh.  
"Well, I had best be returning to Wrath's wife, I pray that I don't _accidentally_ tell Father of your remarks today the next time I come to visit…Greed." The malicious tone was no longer present, but the threat was clear, with a scowl Greed scoffed slightly, before turning to leave in the opposite direction

_Back to patrolling then I guess…_

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Pride smiled to himself, strangely amused, he wasn't sure why, he hadn't spoken with Father, he'd 'quarrelled' with Greed, and he was currently walking to his imminent scolding, he had nothing to be pleased about. He stopped, opening his eyes wide; hoping to have changed them back to their usual ten-year old, vibrant, optimism filled, sprightly, innocent appearance. A quick glance of his reflection in the murky sewer water confirmed his assumptions somewhat, but he'd need to check again when he arrived upstairs.

Pride quickened his pace, if he was gone for too long _she_ wouldn't hesitate to turn all of Central upside down to find him, he'd need to think of an excuse before he got back, she probably wouldn't give him time to explain himself, but he always wanted to have one should he need it.

The homunculus Pride looked all the world like a child, a large grin plastered to his youthful face, smart new clothes and perfectly combed hair securing his status. The Fuhrer's son and nothing more. The image of a flawless child. The distorted shadows around him dared to defy such an image, but even they were disposed of with a simple thought, his smile widened further, he knew what he'd been doing…

Selim Bradley was merely returning to his mother, he had wandered off by mistake and had lost track of time, the boy would tearfully apologise to his mother, and she would make him promise to not run away again, she'd smile and comfort him, make him tea and tell him stories to cheer him up, at least till father came home, when and if he did.

Acting certainly was the easiest of tasks.

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A/N: Mrs. Bradley must've had a pretty fiery temper for her to get away with slapping Wrath…No wonder Wrath chose her then.

Sorry about Pride taking Greed's line the wrong way, since I wrote it and upon rereading the line took it wrong myself, giving birth to Pride's outburst ^_^'

Reviews appreciated, I'll try to update more regularly on this one.


	2. When Father sleeps, Pride wonders…

***Spoilers for all!***

Another chapter, further bridging the gap between Pride fics and fics on the other homunculi! Time for Mrs. Bradley's appearance! She has to be hiding something in that fluffy blob of oblivious love and affection…I'm sure of it, while I want to wait until the manga ends so I can get all my facts straight I don't want to be accused of using hindsight too much, what to do?

Reviews:

VeekaIzhanez: Thanks, glad you like it, nice to see other people like Manga Pride too…not like that Ed Pride…I hate that little…*grumble grumble*

Hope everyone is in character again, and I hope you enjoy it ^_^

Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa.

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**Sin's child**

**Chapter Two: When Father sleeps, Pride wonders…**

"I'm afraid we've let him escape from our sights… again, Madam, please forgive us" Pride sat quietly, leaning against the wall, he'd need to wait until they were about to leave before making his entrance. He was grateful for his mother's obliviousness to the world around her, having been sitting for a good five minutes, his eyes closed as though asleep, a single shadow clinging to the doorframe in the other room, covertly listening in on his bodyguards' feeble attempts to explain themselves.

"Please…just find him; I am sure we can discuss the consequences of your actions once you have, maybe when my husband comes home…" Pride smiled, he hardly ever got to see this side of 'mother', he had once, back before the charade, when both she and Wrath were much younger. He was quite sure he'd never want to be on the receiving end of her own type of self contained rage, being the perfect child he was he doubted he ever would.

"Yes…of course Madam, p-please do not worry" This was it, they'd be leaving soon, he would have to prepare. He removed his shadow from the door, bringing it up to his face, studying it, contorting its shape into one Pride deemed suitable for the task, settling for a thin tendril with a sharp pointed tip. Using his human hands he tore it down the middle with little effort, the shadow failing to even pierce his container's skin, not that it couldn't rip through rock and steel if he desired with as much effort- or the flesh of any normal human for that matter. Pride shifted a little, glancing around to see if the maid or his tutor happened to be walking by, they weren't, though it was far too late to be worrying about such trivial things. Taking a deep breath he forced himself to sit straight, tiny fingers sliding uselessly along the smooth marble floor, unable to find something to hold onto, was it fear? No, of course not, more like… anticipation. He smirked, purple orbs unwavering as he eyed the living pieces of shade, and thrust them forward.

The sin in the guise of a boy didn't so much as flinch, frozen in place as the shadows quivered and dissolved, his container's punctured eyes already sparking in quick flashes of crimson, repairing themselves. Pride dabbed at his cheeks, and feeling an unfamiliar wetness he sighed, relieved.

_How many souls did I use?_

Pride kept his reformed eyes closed, searching inside his Philosopher's stone, ignoring the screams of anguish. He had never bothered to try and distinguish the different cries of the endless chorus, but somehow, he always knew how many souls resided within him, and determined the toll of his actions.

_Just the one? That's good._

He had never been able cry out of his own free will, he wasn't sure why, maybe because crying was caused by human emotions he weren't capable of, or that maybe because this body was merely a container now, and its tear-ducts had rotted away long ago, or didn't contain any in the first place. Regardless of why, this method was the only way he could look anything remotely similar to upset. While highly effective; such an extreme came at a price, his container relied on his stone to exist, making it almost impossible to pierce through. Destroying part of it was difficult, repairing it again… even worse.

_All to get a few tears…_

Never the less, crying was a necessary part of his charade, and a few souls here and there were a necessary sacrifice in order to maintain it. He made sure not to use this too often, for one it would make him look weak emotionally (and he couldn't have that), and it would eventually squander his Philosopher's stone. It wasn't that he valued the lives of the humans that were used to create it; he just didn't want to waste Father's time in asking for another, he wasn't one so irresponsible as to die so many times, not like that clueless oaf Gluttony.

Footsteps once again brought him out of his daydreaming; he was doing that a lot today…

He quickly pushed himself onto his feet, reaching for the door handle as a less lethal pair of shadowed hands pinched at his cheeks, minute droplets of silver sliding over them, he didn't know when they'd stop, but it didn't matter, seven cups of the finest Xingese tea and a twenty minute hug would remedy it, there was no doubt about that.

"M-mother?" His voice had cracked to accompany the tears as he poked his head through the door, his reddened face and the continuous streams from his eyes securing his place as a soft and pathetically timid child, the perfect magnet for sympathy, at least for the time being. Soon all three pairs of eyes were on the boy, all of them filled with shock, but one was soon replaced with happiness and the sparkle of unshed –but genuine- tears.

"M-Master Selim, Where did you run off to? We've been looking everywhere for-"

"Selim…" 'mother' rushed over, acting the same way she did whenever he ran away, pulling him into a tight embrace, as if she never wanted to let him from her side again, she probably didn't. "I thought, I thought you'd…I almost lost you…Thank God…" She turned, glaring daggers at the shocked pair behind them, her tears could, for just a moment, be capable of being mistaken for those of rage "_You_, how could you two let this happen? ! Why, I ought to-"

"No, please don't…" Pride spoke up, his voice just above a whisper, his bodyguards were extremely incompetent and relatively easy to escape from in comparison to his previous ones, he'd never get such a convenient pair again, he couldn't have his 'mother' getting rid of them on a distressed whim "Mr. Sherman and Mr. Saxon are… It was all my fault, I just…" unable to find an excuse he burrowed himself in her shoulder, automatically sobbing into it, returning the hug out of habit- not affection…certainly not…

"Shh, it's ok, you're safe now." She cooed, stroking his back lightly as if soothing a baby "Come, let's get you some tea" She lifted him onto his feet, wiping his eyes tenderly, then her own. "Who knows, maybe father will come to visit." Pride smiled weakly, his tears subsiding as she took his hand in hers and led them towards the couch, knowing her he'd stay in this room for the rest of the day.

But, for whatever reason, he didn't seem to mind, rather content with the company of this human he called mother.

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"…And then I ended up slapping him, I didn't mean to but…well, your father has always been useless with women" Selim nodded, politely sipping at his fifth cup of tea. Mother was reciting her favourite story from when she was young, she always exaggerated in one way or another, but he seemed to prefer it that way, whether it was intentional or her age was prematurely catching up with her he didn't know, but it was always better when it wasn't retold exactly like the original, after all, he was there to observe Wrath's meeting with his wife all those years before. Where he'd learned of her concealed rage that hardly saw the light of day for good reason, her tongue of fire and piercing glare were not to be underestimated, there really was no wonder Wrath had chosen her to be his wife, but without his help he wouldn't have been able to have such a choice. Mother regarded them as merely fond memories now, ones that she hoped would perhaps be passed on to her son's children, being completely unaware of his true nature she would never know that such a day could never occur. Selim frowned at the thought, maybe it was more of a curse to be Wrath's wife, past the money and security what did she have? He purged the thought instantly; even if she had married a normal human she would never have grandchildren, the Promised day was too close, and like every other human in the country she would…

_She would…_

"What's wrong, Selim? Are you not feeling too well? Or am I boring you with my old nonsense?" Pride jumped, startled, he'd started dozing off, what was wrong with him? Homunculi never got tired, well, hardly ever since Sloth didn't count. Maybe it was because he'd regenerated his eyes, and walked on his short human legs all the way to Father and back without so much as a rest, not to mention having to wake up early to get ready and escape his bodyguards. Yes, that was it, just a bad combination of different circumstances his container wasn't suited to.

"No…it's not you, I l-l-love hearing your stories of father" a small yawn escaped him, he belatedly covered his mouth for the sake of good manners "but I…I think…I'm not feeling so…" Another yawn

"I think someone's tired. It's fine Selim, you can go to bed for a while, I won't tell your father" She smiled, placing a finger to her lips, indicating her promised silence. Pride nodded through drooping eyes, uneasily teetering out the room. He was more than capable of getting to his bedroom with his eyes closed; through almost identical hallways he continued to try to explain his sudden drowsiness

'_Father's asleep; wonder what he was dreaming about… I'm Father's pride…maybe I dream the same things he does…maybe…but if Father's asleep, shouldn't I be sleeping as well? Since I'm the closest to him…'_ He pushed the door open with little difficulty, ignoring the childish drawings of Edward Elric on the floor, not bothering to change his clothes for little more than a short rest.

'_So…If I go to sleep for a while…'_

Using one pair of shadows he folded his bedcovers back, pulling his shoes and socks off together with another, while his human hands fiddled with the buttons on his jacket, he thought nothing of where he dropped it, thick creases running through it when it landed.

"_Father won't have to sleep for as long…'_

He climbed slowly into bed, instantly curling up in a tight ball, hugging his knees close to his chest.

'_That's right…I'm helping Father…'_

The homunculus sighed; his clenched fists uncurling as his thoughts became disjointed, making no attempt to keep them together.

'_He'll be so…Proud_

'_of… me…'_

…

A smile formed upon the boy's face as he drifted off to sleep

The room was silent, except for steady breaths belonging to a sin in the form of a child. His lips were parted slightly, emitting the almost inaudible sounds, his chest rising and falling, hair flat over his eyes. Shoes and socks placed far apart from each other, as if just tore from his feet. His custom made jacket lay in a crumpled mess of black on the floor, carelessly tossed aside.

When exhausted the sin of Pride cared little for his charade's appearance.

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A/N: Dammit Pride, why do make an excuse to justify everything, you can admit you're tired! I guess poking his eyes out and getting into Father's lair really took its toll, but that's what you get when you have the body of a ten year old. Again with the justifications I'm sure Pride can cry normally, he just doesn't want to admit he can, being the oh so superior homunculus he is…

I'm not sure why I made him like this, I think Chapter 106 played a part in it by saying he does what Father says just because he's his parent, even if Father's doesn't care about him at all, something about calling that human logic.

I wonder if I should write about Pride and the other homunculi playing match maker with Wrath… well, if you guys ask for it then I guess I have no choice. ^_^

Poor little Pride, can't breathe through his nose…at least he doesn't snore…yes this will be slightly relevant later

By the way, going with the military theme Sherman and Saxon are types of military vehicles.

I'd best stop before this author's note ends up going on forever.

…Please review!


	3. A Fabricated and False Truth

A/N: To ensure that I don't go on about it for the whole of the author's note…I'd best say it now…Selim's new English voice… I really…really…hate it! I don't know why it just…isn't cute! Anime1's Selim dub voice wasn't…good but at least he didn't sound so…childish? This is a rich high class boy we're talking about…not counting when he fanboys for Edward Elric (sorry, Pride's full name basis is rubbing off on me I think). The voice filter might save him when he's Pride but…arrgh! ...Ok, ok I'll stop now before I really do take up a whole page.

…rant over…at least until episode 24 when he reads that report….but this fic will be finished by then- definitely. I'm sure I'll get used to it anyway…even though I watch it subbed.

Ok so flashback time, Father dreams of his creation…Pride has to…too! I have taken a few liberties with Pride's true form (like I don't think that thing on his head is his Ouroboros)…but I won't be describing him that much…so that's ok I guess.

I've used my out-there theory that Pride is a badly made version of Truth (as Gluttony is a badly made version of the doors), this might also tie in with my other theory that Envy is an attempt at making something both male and female (going by the hermaphrodite being a perfect existence), going by this these are the only homunculi that have 'true forms' (Baby Pride, Embryo Envy and Tiny Gluttony [the one growing off of Father when he runs out of lives] respectively). But my theories are all weird and probably all wrong anyway.

I don't think this chapter is that good, but writing Father's really awkward (by the way, he'll be called 'Homunculus' for a few chapters).

Hiromu Awakawa owns FullMetal Alchemist

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Sin's child

**Chapter Three: a Fabricated and False Truth**

**May 21****st**** 1590: Underneath Central city**

Homunculus stared at the flask, his mouth agape. Surely he had just imagined it, he couldn't have possibly succeeded. Back then it was planned, but now…

_After so long…_

It had to be a lie, it was impossible.

And yet it seemed that it was no illusion, a tiny speck no more than half an inch tall suspended in the flask before him, unmoving, but very much alive, Homunculus could see tiny veins and arteries pulsing underneath the pure white skin of his creation, no doubt the Philosopher's stone keeping it alive, a blurred black outline running across its body, defining its shape, Homunculus smiled

"So it really _is_ Truth…then it's only a matter of time until…" The artificial human paused, strangely curious at the small blob in the flask, a flask eerily similar to the one he used to be confined to, Homunculus felt sorry for it, for a moment, to be all alone, completely isolated from the rest of the world, undeveloped eyes making it as good as blind for the time being, unaware of even its own existence "Do not worry, my Pride, you will not need to remain in that flask for very long, I am not so cruel." Homunculus leaned in closer, making sure his creation was perfect; he needed it to be if it was going to make him a perfect being after all- fifteen years of preparation could not have gone to waste.

His pride looked much like a human baby, naturally posed as humans did before birth, smooth skin the colour of the snow-covered mountains far in the north- outside of Amestris' current control- thinly veiling its helpless form, only disturbed by Philosopher's stone filled veins and a few spots of red, one on each hand and foot, one on its forehead and a line running down its back, allowing it to move around once it awoke. The infant shifted, revealing something that distinguished it from human infants, it…_he_ lacked a navel, confirming it as a purely unnatural being, and in its place was a symbol, a symbol that showed him to be something beyond human; the child could not understand such a concept as 'human'. Homunculus couldn't help but feel slightly in awe at his child's first movements, he wasn't proud though, he couldn't be, this child embodied his pride now, he was without that sin. "But you won't last long with only twelve souls; I will need to look after you…won't I?"

The newborn homunculus didn't react, but he didn't mind, it probably couldn't hear him anyway, but if it did, it surely understood didn't it? It was Truth; it knew everything, Homunculus just needed to be patient.

Rather content with himself, Homunculus left his creation to rest, after all, it would be of great use to him, in time.

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**October 2****nd**** 1590**

Homunculus stared at his still flask bound child; it was over four months old now, it needed more souls to sustain him if it was to be of any use. And so, Homunculus had carefully placed another Philosopher's stone inside the flask, it now floating beside the infant in question, but it hadn't responded to it.

"Do you understand what it is?" He rotated the flask, reasoning a side view to be more beneficial. The younger homunculus was still asleep, it hadn't awoke since its birth, but its chest moved slightly now, it had learned to act independently, but it still could not survive without the red stone that was in front of it. The stone glowed softly, as if sensing the one that was already housed in creation, the infant moved, a tiny fist scraping against the smooth surface, Homunculus observed silently

_That's it…go on..._

The child remained still, unsure how to react, Homunculus was as equally unsure, how would it go about absorbing the stone? It was almost as big as it.

_It's Truth…it knows what to do…_

And yet Homunculus failed to even convince himself, though seeing no reason as to doubt its abilities. The fist fell limp, returning to its original position, as if it had never touched the stone at all. It curled tighter, trembling, its whole body quaking as if caught in a blizzard, it scowled, and a liquid formed in the corners of its eyes.

A moment passed, and a crack formed on the side of the flask- Homunculus hadn't heard it, but he knew- the child had screamed, Homunculus' eyes darted between the large crack in the flask and his creation, the latter's neck currently sparking red as water continued to pour from its closed eyes- the scream had damaged its unused vocal cords.

"It rejected it? But-"

Another scream- the crack spread further, causing the forming pool of water to spill out onto the table.

Homunculus didn't know what to do, without the stone it would die; if the flask broke it would die, if it continued screaming it would eventually be unable to regenerate, and if it continued crying it would eventually drown. He could effortlessly repair the flask, but if it was the light that was upsetting it the flash from the transmutation would only make the situation worse. A sigh, Homunculus stepped away from the table, quickly regaining his composure,

"You won't appreciate this, but you are…far too precious to lose…"

The room lit up with crimson light, and then all was silent. The flask was fixed, the water had evaporated, and the philosopher's stone was gone. The infant's movements slowed, but it still shook with unheard sobs, a final tear sliding down its cheek.

Homunculus' brow furrowed

"How many souls do you have left now…?" with a brief stare he knew the answer "Just the one?" he shook his head "You damned fool, rejecting the stone…how am I supposed to support you now?" he knew that the infant couldn't reply. Still, he wanted it to acknowledge its idiocy, to feel guilty and apologise. But now it couldn't do anything anymore, and neither could its father. "I know you can hear me, you're Truth, you're supposed to be able to do anything, so don't just sit there crying, you're my pride, but you shouldn't be so arrogant as to defy your creator, I gave you life, why are you just curling up and letting yourself die? ! Well? !" The younger homunculus flinched at the outburst, instinctively pulling its legs tighter to its chest, trying to protect itself against the faceless aggression that had reached its ears. But nothing could protect it now- that was certain. With another shiver and another pitiful tear it adopted another instinctive human trait; it raised a shaking fist, and put its thumb in its mouth. A new thing for it, no doubt the only comfort it could create for itself, and a childish _human_ one at that.

"Hm?" Homunculus looked closer, still his creation insisted on frowning, still shivering, but soon he saw it- its body was sparking erratically. Its mouth twitched for a moment, before it coughed, minute drops of blood trickling down his thumb.

It hadn't been able to heal itself a final time

"Oh? So you're bleeding; you're going to choke, on your own blood…how pitiable an end…you should be ashamed, you haven't even opened your eyes…such a waste." For a moment he thought he saw part of its skin crack and fade away as specks of dust, maybe he had just imagined it, but the moment itself was more than inevitable, whether now or in a few days, it didn't matter, the former was almost guaranteed at this point.

Strangely, he didn't even feel disappointed, instead he felt a peculiar ache inside, was it the loss of his pride? Or did he actually care about what became of it? Did he… not want it to die? He, who had killed hundreds of thousands of humans without a single moment of hesitation? Who had mocked the very idea of having a family? He didn't know "Blood looks a lot like Philosopher's stones, doesn't it? But of course, the irony of it is wasted on someone like you." The younger homunculus didn't stir; having drifted back into a peaceful sleep- maybe it hadn't awoke at all- more violent coughs shook its body through its rest, blood still pouring from its mouth, staining its pure skin- that can began to flake- a deep red. Truth's outline flowed along the developing holes, futilely trying to conceal the irreparable damage. Again, he felt concerned for it, hoping that its young form was unable to feel pain, or at least wasn't aware of its situation.

With a sigh, Homunculus turned his back on his dying child, knowing that when he returned in the morning it would be gone, the flask empty, its whole existence but a memory. "…Wait! Maybe I could…!" A fleeting backward glance, at the crimson stained child and the forming puddle below it.

_Blood…_

Homunculus smiled, his eyes alight with mischief, and maybe the spark of relief; perhaps his pride had a chance at life after all…


	4. Unfounded fears of the First Homunculus

A/N: reviews first, other things later!

Spockie: THANK YOOUU! You don't know how happy I am to have someone agree with me, everyone else I ask think it's adorable and that I'm being too picky. By the way, he's voiced by a girl in the English dub as well, by someone called Brittany Karbowski, who voices Black Star in Soul Eater…she sounds the same in that too. Thanks for the favourite too, it's really appreciated ^-^ …and Mrs. Bradley sounds like she's just reading her lines…and is too young *shot* Ok ok, I won't complain about the English dub anymore, not even when I hear the Xingese guys tomorrow *points to country*.

ANYway…

Really short chapter here, apparently writing baby Pride is even worse than writing Father, I think I did ok enough. I was going to add more but I thought it ended in an ok place.

Also, due to my altering of Pride's true form a little bit, when (badly) sketching his design out, while re-watching Brotherhood episode 51 I noticed something. I've been unwittingly turning him into something like those mannequin soldiers! And now I feel really unoriginal and stupid for not noticing it earlier, but that's what I get for changing his design to suit myself.

Hiromu Awakawa owns FullMetal Alchemist

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Sin's Child

**Chapter Four: Unfounded Fears of the First Homunculus**

**March 15****th**** 1618**

The young sin of Pride knew nothing, existing for so long in this flask, where time didn't mean a thing, where he had lived for nearly twenty eight years, somehow surviving, without a mind to corrupt or drive insane.

He was a truly ignorant yet innocent being, well he would be if he were human, but a human could never exist without anything as he did. He effectively was nothing, just an empty shell, possessing only a physical body which he had almost no control over, there was nothing he could sincerely call his own, if he had such a desire to possess things at all.

Except the voices. But they were all he had, sometimes they were quiet, speaking to him in soothing whispers, other times they screamed and raved inside him, and he wanted nothing more than to return to those 'peaceful' times. When in 'calm' moods they kept him 'amused' by talking to him, he couldn't talk back to them, but they always knew what he needed, even if he didn't speak, not that he often asked for 'specific' things. It was they who told him what he was, that he was alive, and he was a 'he', not an 'it', they had never told him what difference it made, but he didn't mind it. He was well aware that they would only tell him 'important' things, things he needed to know, like what he felt or what things were called, things which he thought he understood, whether he actually could was anyone's guess, even so he valued them, because he had never known anything else.

Except that one time, the time with the '_light_' and the '_warmth_' and the '_red_', the time when the voices fell silent one by one, until he was all alone in his abyss, making him question whether they had even existed in the first place. He didn't know what to think, what to feel, the voices had told him everything, without them… could he even exist? Then there was the other voice, louder than all the rest, a voice from _outside_, that wasn't a part of _him_, his whole being shook at the thought of it. But so much was obvious to him, the light was a bad thing, it had taken everything from him, and nothing good could come of it.

Soon even the voice had faded, the light with it, but _his_ voices hadn't returned, and as he floated along in his now soundless world he felt as if he were about to fade away just like everything else. Trying to grasp onto what he remembered, he put this 'thumb' of his into his 'mouth', something they had told him would provide 'comfort', something else told him it would work, or at least he imagined it had. To his surprise it actually did, and he felt 'warm' and 'happy', despite the emptiness. Content with himself, he 'smiled', and decided not to think anymore.

0 * 0 * 0

Almost twenty eight years later, and he still needed to deceive it, and all just to keep it alive.

Homunculus had begun to wonder whether it was worth it, musing as the infant guzzled the liquid down greedily, only pausing to take deep laboured breaths through its nose, apparently the sin wasn't very arrogant yet, not caring as it seeped out the sides of its mouth and dripped into the bottom of its flask; it would need to grow into it.

It was a wonderful deception when he thought about it, human babies drank milk, it was a natural reflex of theirs to drink whenever something came close to their mouths. While the homunculus could have survived on Philosopher's stones until it had matured, it feared the light the Philosopher's stone gave off, refusing them by unwittingly killing itself repeatedly.

In what seemed like the child's final moment Homunculus had an idea as he observed it cough up blood from acting too reckless and destroying its vocal cords. It didn't seem to mind the taste of blood, despite the seriousness of the situation- it really was the ignorant one. But the fact that it could drink blood to no ill effect…

_Philosopher's stones tasted like blood…_

…Or so Homunculus had assumed once on a whim, he had never tested his theory, but he made sure to when executing his deception.

And so, the little homunculus had been being fed heated liquid Philosopher's stones though a tiny pipe in the flask, assuming them to be blood.

"You really like 'blood', don't you Pride?" That was what he'd named it in a moment of unoriginality, but it fit, since that was all it was essentially, he had long since assumed that he wasn't really Truth at this point, the dark outline that surrounded it had been acting odd as of late, occasionally fading out, other times branching off to form lines of black that moved of their own accord- very un-Truth like- Therefore, he reasoned, Pride wasn't Truth, rather a failed attempt at making it. "But what are you using all those souls on? Are you using them at all? You haven't grown at all in almost t thirty years" Homunculus knew that was a lie, Pride had grown, though at first glance he couldn't tell, still abnormally small, far too tiny to pass for a human baby (not that he would want it to), it was now an inch tall when it was curled up- twice its original size- more or less. The red design on its stomach where its navel should have been was more distinguishable now, resembling a circle, but on closer inspection Homunculus could see it was a dragon chasing its tail around a star, he didn't understand what it meant, but he liked it, he needed something to make his child unique, not counting the large spots on its limbs and head that circulated its blood, _this_ was purely decorative, as it should be.

Pride had stopped drinking now, opening its red ringed mouth wide in a satisfied yawn, weakly pushing the tube away, but only succeeding in moving itself. Homunculus found it strange, seeing no reason why it should yawn while asleep, but he disregarded it, seeing it as normal after so long.

"But you can't drink it forever, I won't allow it. You must accept a Philosopher's stone. _You_ _will_." Pride paid no attention, absentmindedly wiping the blood from its mouth as it floated backwards, hitting the back of the flask with an inaudible thump. Its outline didn't move, cushioning it against the glass, before forming into a small bump and easing it forward into its usual place at the centre of the flask, it paid that no heed either. Homunculus decided to ignore it as well, assuming the outline would one day disappear from disuse, since it clearly had no control over it.

"…Tomorrow. Tomorrow you will have to face that senseless fear of yours; please do not fail your father, Pride."

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A/N: Poor little Pride…again…hearing voices, and understanding them…the Philosopher's stone souls must really be in a good mood…or he is imagining it, or accidentally using some of his fake Truth knowledge instead to find out things.

Sorry for the time skips, I guess I must be confusing you all, especially with that flashback in the first half.

I really want to get this fic finished before the new manga chapter comes out, since I *KNOW* it will affect what I write (I've gone with not using too much hindsight)


	5. Another Light in the Dark

***Still filled with spoilers and bizarre groundless theories!***

A/N: Yeah…sorry for the delay, exams y'see… I hope the super long chapter can make it up.

Reviews:

Spockie: … *points to previous chapter* I promised I wouldn't… thanks for the review none the less~

Hmm…five chapters in and still no Lust…maybe I should change this to Pride and Father instead…no no it's fine, she'll be here by chapter seven I promise. Sorry for the bad chapter name by the way, chapter four wasn't planned and it ended up stealing this chapter's original name.

Wow…short author's note…I'll write more later.

And I still don't own FullMetal Alchemist,

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Five: Another light in the dark**

**March 16****th**** 1618**

More voices, there were always more after he ate, two or three he didn't recognize. Pride appreciated them, since they told him new things, things the others didn't know of, like the identity of the mysterious voice from outside, apparently it belonged to the one who had given them to him, they all had different names for it, but he couldn't understand what any of them meant, and they refused to tell him, still, he wanted to 'see' this person, to be able to 'talk' like the voices did, to call it by one of its names and 'thank' it, they had told him to, and he obediently obliged- they knew what was best for him.

But they seemed 'nervous' today, murmuring things he couldn't comprehend and generally avoiding him, he had managed to approach one of the 'younger' sounding ones, for whatever reason they seemed more carefree and, while possessing less knowledge, were more than happy to tell him what they knew. But even this one was almost as withdrawn as the rest, but it had told him in disjointed and fearful whispers that something was going to happen, something from long ago, something terrible.

…_**We might have to 'go away' again…**_

Pride was confused, going away was no cause for concern, the voices often didn't talk, and some had disappeared in the past, was this what had they were so worried about? Doubting the voice he asked it to be more 'specific'. It didn't reply at first, fading back into the void, returning a little while after.

_**Actually…if you behave we might be able to have more friends…**_

Pride couldn't see how that was a bad thing, he adored the presence of the voices, surely more of them was a good-

_**But…Just so you know…**_

The voice paused, as if glancing around to see if anyone was listening.

_**The…the light…i-it's coming back…**_

The voice said nothing after that.

0 * 0 * 0

Homunculus' face remained calm, but inside he was cringing, once again in this position, watching cautiously as Pride floated alongside a Philosopher's stone, scowling, its lip quivering, small hands fisted in anger or fear, even though it shouldn't have possessed either. While it itself was motionless its outline was being particularly rebellious today, split into three separate streams, moving slowly around its body, occasionally changing direction, determined to block its father's view. The child began to whimper, Homunculus placed his hand on the table, ready to repair any damage instantly, the flask was made of thinner glass now, making him able to hear inside, but it could easily shatter if his light-fearing child decided to scream again.

"Don't you dare…you should desire your father's approval, so…accept the stone, Pride." The outline twitched, splitting in pieces and reforming again, the odd stray strand becoming disconnected and dissolving. Two molded themselves over the infant's hands, waiting for a moment to settle before pulling away. What formed was a mere parody of a baby's hand- long rigid rectangles with five sharp points serving as fingers, no joints, the strands hadn't molded accurately enough. The hands folded over its eyes, blocking out the light the infant so feared, and Pride raised a real hand and pressed at whatever was on its face, disregarding it soon after.

A thin, loose wisp of outline brushed the stone, and everything froze in place. The piece twisted in on itself before settling into another hand-esque shape, running a finger along the strange new object it couldn't see. Others soon joined it, all inquisitive as they tilted it, pushed at it and mostly did as they pleased, all the while Pride didn't dare to move, forever oblivious to the world around it.

0 * 0 * 0

It had been a few hours now, and still Pride did not stir, instead its outline raked small clawed hands over the stone, examining it, prodding it, scratching at it, but failing to damage the flawless material, completely consumed by newfound curiosity. The hands pulled it closer to the infant, it didn't react, other parts of its outline still folded over its eyes. Pride yawned, stretching its tiny arms forward, but they stopped dead in the air as fingers scraped along the stone's smooth surface, strangely, its outline only pushed it further towards it, forcing the child to grip the stone almost the same size as it. The black on its eyes receded, and Pride raised a hand to block out the glowing. Closed eyes twitched slightly, the stone was pulled back, and yet the infant reached out blindly for it, searching for the diminished light, moving more now than it had in all its life. Unable to find it, Pride paused, seemingly deep in thought.

A minute passed, then another, and another, the homunculus' mind continued to tick over, considering its options. Then, without so much as a moment of hesitation, its eyes _opened_, and for the first time in its life it awoke, revealing a wet but piercing gaze, eyes the same colour as the stone in front of it, no pupils, no whites either, just blank ellipses of red. Pride squinted at the stone, experimentally reaching out for it; finding itself failing to grasp the stone it lowered its arm fractionally, before trying again, to the same effect

"No depth perception yet then?" Homunculus smiled at its futile attempts, amused as it scowled in annoyance rather than sadness, after a few more fruitless efforts its scowl deepened and it clenched its hands, trying to will the stone to it instead. Its outline obeyed immediately, forcing it into the child's hands. Now holding onto the stone with what seemed like all the strength a creature of its size could possess, it looked unsure about what to do next, staring into it, Homunculus thought he heard it coo contently to itself as it observed the wispy patterns that danced within, blissfully unaware of what the stone contained, he couldn't resist a weak smile at its ignorance. While the infant continued to amuse itself with its newfound sight its outline shuddered and contorted, stretching to the furthest reaches of the flask, pressing lightly on the glass as it split into more and more separate strands, each one acting of its own accord, some forming into hands while others remained as sharp pointed tendrils. One succeeded in reaching one of the two corks at the top of the flask, though did not opt to push it, as if it knew it would be unwise to do so, and slithered back down to rejoin the tangled mess of black that surrounded to stone holding infant.

Despite the chaos, Pride did not seem to notice, now holding the stone tight to its chest, resting its forehead against it, the circle on its head glowing in response, Homunculus assumed the ones on his palms, feet and back would be doing the same, though covered by either the stone or the shadowy tendrils that now made up the ever expanding outline. Pride's 'outline' slowed as its eyes began to droop and its grip weakened, they gathered under it, supporting it, some wrapping themselves around the stone and the child, tying , _binding_ them together. Pride didn't object in the slightest, giving another quiet yawn, its eyelids now masking the completely unnatural orbs that lay beneath them. Several others continued to slink up its body, encircling it, starting to form a sphere over four times its size. The gaps started to close, and the last thing Homunculus saw was Pride nuzzle affectionately into the stone, its nose pressed softly against it.

Then all what remained was a shadowed mess, leaving no sign that the child or the stone were ever there in the first place.

Homunculus seemed concerned for a moment, but smiled none the less, delighted that Pride had somewhat gotten over its irrational fear. Its sudden change in appearance could be a problem, but he chose to ignore it, wanting to at least appreciate his pride's brief moment of happiness while it lasted.

0 * 0 * 0

**April 28****th**** 1618**

"That…? Yes, yes that will do fine…but…" Homunculus sat with his back to his creation, pondering as the now shadowed blob swirled around silently, giving no hint that it once held the appearance of an infant, he turned to face it. "What to do with you…You're certainly not Truth, you look like I did when…well; you are my pride, it suits you. However, you cannot give me any knowledge if you are unable to speak, you're almost useless, I suppose you can make good instructions how _not_ to make a Homunculus." Homunculus stood up, he had been planning on expanding Amestris' reign of control for a while, having already invaded Riviere some time ago.

_D…d…_

"hmm…maybe Cameron…then I'll have control of both the north-west and south-east… I'll go tell them now, it will take a while for them to figure out what excuse they need…useless things."

_D…da…_

"Hm? What's this?" It was coming from the flask, he hurried towards it, was Pride trying to speak? "What was that? Tell me what that was, was it you Pride?" The shadow contorted aimlessly in response, before compressing and suddenly splitting in two, parting to reveal a minuscule white speck of something deep in inside it.

"oh, you're still in there Pride? I thought that maybe they had eaten you." Pride shifted, and the shadows coiled around its body moved to suit its new position, holding it afloat inside the black exterior. Propping itself up with its shadows, it opened its eyes wide, lips quivering before forming into smile.

"_Da…Dada…"_ Homunculus' face fell, in twenty-eight years it hadn't developed mentally at all? His hands slowly closed into tight fists, Pride still smiled, staring up at 'Dada', eyes begging for approval, for praise, its hands clasped together in anticipation, it was obviously proud at its 'achievement'- embodying its true nature.

"Twenty eight years…and that's all you can say? Even after you heard me say what I wanted you to refer to me as? I do not know whether you are being brave or merely disrespectful, but it is shameful that you insist on behaving like a human child with such immature terms. _Shameful."_ The child's smile faded instantly as it digested the words, its hands falling at its sides. It slouched, hanging its head as its shadows rippled around it, tightening on tiny limbs in a previously unfelt emotion. "I won't be speaking to you until you learn to respect your creator. Please do not expect to be fed either." With that Homunculus left it to its own devices, off to visit the other useless things upstairs, at least they could talk and served their desired purpose, though still incompetent.

Pride shivered, red eyes half lidded, shiny with unshed tears. He blinked hard as he brought his shadows closer, a tear forcing its way out. He glanced at one of his closer shadows, contorting it into a sharp fingered hand and wiping his cheek roughly, wiping away his shame induced sadness with it. Something close crackled noisily for a moment, and the hand came away red, covered with something strange, a quick experiment revealed it to be food, but he ignored it, he didn't deserve such things.

Pride huddled deeper into his shadows as they completely covered his body, closing the gap in his dark container, returning it to its usual spherical shape. With a weak sigh he closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep, but his mind was clouded by 'Dada's' rejection, the mere thought of his hate reawakened his feeling of shame. An affectionate squeeze from his shadows forced him to forget, and a soft, gentle caress on his healed cheek eased him into a deep sleep, a single word still lingering in his thoughts, a word he needed to learn should he try to earn a certain someone's approval.

A simple word to any twenty eight year old _human_, but to the little sin it was a strange word. A complicated word. A peculiar word. But a precious word.

The most important word in the world.

…_Father…_

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More time skips and mini-bookends!

Reviews greatly greatly appreciated~!


	6. Naivety in Knowledge

A/N: Will write longer author's note later.

Lust WILL be here next chapter; do I need to bump this up to a T for her presence alone? What do you guys think?

Reviews: Two reviews? …

larsa7: Nice to see people enjoy it, you're really good at English considering you're only learning ^_^ yeah…Father was cruel…but I guess since he still has emotions at this time period he had certain expectations for his first homunculus…nah, you can't justify how cruel he was being. Does that count as OOC?…I hope not. Thanks for the review Pride's probably my favourite character as well :).

baconinthesoap64: Thank you, you're too kind, I appreciate you going out of your way to write the review, hope you continue to enjoy my…work? Yeah let's call it that.

Just to clarify this…If the text is in italics, its Pride's baby voice, assuming he gets a new one for episode 61. Bolded is his metallic voice he uses usually.

Hiromu Arakawa still owns FullMetal Alchemist, and I have no desire to take it from her…I'd just screw it up.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Six: Naivety in Knowledge**

**June 1st 1620 **

"Still haven't bothered to invade Cameron…I suppose I can wait another forty years or so…" Homunculus sighed to himself, his head flat against the table, arms limp at his sides, surrounded by open books and scrawled on pieces of paper. Far behind him, in a remote area of the large room, was a seemingly empty flask, half cloaked in darkness, a thin piece of cloth lazily draped over it, covered in countless layers of dust. Pride hadn't moved at all in over two years, and as far as Homunculus was aware it hadn't been regenerating itself. He had kept to his word in not speaking to it or giving it any more Philosopher's stones, and Pride had returned it in not speaking another word since that day. Homunculus was happy that Pride had seen its error and chose to punish itself for it, but wondered whether it would simply hide away for the rest of its life instead of trying to correct its mistake.

"He wouldn't be so arrogant as to not learn how to speak properly. He isn't that defiant…" Homunculus stood up, narrowing his eyes as he glanced at the silent flask, deciding that he shouldn't put anything past the childish shadow.

Within moments, the cloth was transmuted away and Homunculus peered into the glass. Inside was the usual floating piece of shade, Homunculus wasn't interested, and tapped against the glass, not giving Pride the satisfaction of seeing him go back on his 'promise'. The shadow seemed to crack down the middle, before tearing neatly in two, once again revealing the helpless infant inside. The shadow rippled as it settled, Homunculus could tell within seconds that Pride was not as he remembered it. Beneath the clawed hands that held him in place were stick-like limbs, leathery skin hanging loosely from fragile bones. It's cheeks were hollow and its mouth hung slack, twitching in the corners from time to time, moving in a slow but constant pattern. Thick black bags sat under its eyes, it mustn't have been sleeping. Its Philosopher's stone had apparently vanished, Homunculus assumed that Pride had succeeded in absorbing the stone, but had since refused to utilize it.

And yet, despite the state it was in, Pride currently slept rather soundly, jutting ribs being hidden as its chest rose and fell softly. Unmoving, it slowly forced open an eye, its shadows tilting it into the correct position, huddling around it as if doubting its ability to support its weight and sit up. Pride blinked, a shadow rubbing at its eye, questioning what had woke it. Another shadow appeared and propped itself under its chin, forcing it to look at its father, upon seeing him its pale cracked lips curled into a weak smile, it blinked hard to itself, and the shadows carried it forward, out of his usual spherical container. It yawned as it body sparked, the rings around its eyes fading, skin inflating around his brittle bones, once again filled with expected 'baby fat', though from what Homunculus could tell at a glance it was still thinner than when it was born. The shadows around it dispersed, moving to create a shape similar to its father's chair if it was horribly blurred, it leaned against it accordingly.

Placing its hand against the glass, Pride stared up as the final flashes subsided, confidence burning in its eyes; they were the only things that hadn't changed in the slightest, still crimson, still inhuman.

"_F-Fa…Father…"_

Homunculus smiled, his negative thoughts about his child disappearing instantly, he nodded approvingly at the infant, who opened its eyes wide and did something half between a gasp and a yawn, the shadow around it belatedly pulled it back in shock.

"_F-Father…?" _It repeated, voice no higher than a whisper, staring in disbelief

"Yes Pride, that's right." Pride paused, bringing its hands up to its mouth as a deep red ran across its face, it gurgled to itself happily as it used its stone to return to as it was when it was in 'perfect' condition, kicking out at the air while the rest of its shadows held him in place

"_Father, Father" _It smiled, giggling madly to itself, hands still partially obscuring a blush on its cheeks.Homunculus continued to grin at his child's newfound joy, sharing a part of it, for the first time actually feeling like a real father, having been finally referred to as such in the appropriate type of language.

"F…Fath…**er…**" Pride's movement slowed abruptly, and it fell silent, having worn itself out in its brief moment of bliss, it collapsed into the shadow behind him, breathing deeply, trying in vain to keep its eyes open. Its shadows folded gently around its body, encasing its in a cocoon of sorts, leaving only its head exposed, it scowled as it realized that there was no point in fighting, but co-operated after a moment or two, curling up into its usual sleeping position, pushing its thumb into its mouth. Homunculus watched curiously, having never seen Pride's shadow's methods of lulling the young homunculus to sleep, as a shadow waved itself slowly near its face until it caught its attention, then stroking down its nose, Pride's gaze obediently following it, eyelids sliding lower and lower, till it couldn't lift them anymore, while another shadow ran its finger down its cheek, before cupping it affectionately, Pride nuzzled into it, its breathing back to normal, eyes closed lightly now. The shadow remained stuck to his cheek, until he was asleep, when his breaths slowed and he stopped moving against it.

Homunculus smiled, and continued to watch as the shadows surrounding the child were pulled back into the sphere. Even a few moments afterward he still beamed.

_Pride had called him 'Father'…_

"Hm?" Homunculus was brought of his daze by something strange, the sphere had sealed itself now, but darkness still moved within it, he could hear the numerous tendrils circling and intertwining with each other, he leaned forward, trying to figure out what was going on inside the fuzzy ball of darkness in which his child slept.

Then, without so much as a warning, multiple large eyes appeared over the sphere, with slit eyed pupils and dark pink irises. Homunculus stumbled back at the sudden movement, watching as a wide mouth filled with an inordinate amount of flawless teeth ran its way across the sphere's side, curving into a malicious smirk. One of the eyes focused completely on the older homunculus, the others moving independently in random directions.

"**Father…" **Pride's voice came through distorted, deep and echoing, much like his own used to be long ago, two loose strands of its shadows formed into wispy but solid hands, 'Pride' clasped them together experimentally, maintaining the smirk as it forced its eyes away, leaving only the large staring one in the centre, it swirled itself around, and flexed its fingers in front of its eye, ever so curious of its new form.

"So _this_ is what you've been using your souls on…? You really are my Pride aren't you?" Homunculus almost laughed at the convenient irony. At the noise Pride ceased his experiments, and smiled again, before forcing his remaining features away as well, all went silent in Homunculus' lair.

Homunculus was rather at a loss for words, such a sudden change in the child, but it had clearly been preparing for this for a while. Besides, it had called him _'Father'_, which was all that _really_ mattered. With a grin 'Father' returned to his papers.

Maybe his Pride wasn't so useless after all.

0 * 0 * 0

**November 3****rd**** 1635**

"**Father…I…I"** It had been a simple enough question, and yet Pride, hard as he tried, found himself unable to produce a reasonable answer

"I'll ask again," Pride averted his gaze, not wanting to hold Father's eye, but still felt the cold stare boring into him "why do you dislike light, Pride? Ever since you were born you have hated it, but you yourself are a shadow, you cannot exist without light."

"**I know that Father…but…When there's light…I feel…I can't describe it…I'm sorry"**

"And the Philosopher's stone? The stone also emits light, yet you do not fear it. Look at your Father Pride." 'Father' lowered himself to the younger homunculus' level, transmuting a short stool on which to sit "We must quash this fear, do you wish to burden your Father forever? I cannot work like this." Pride shakily turned around, making several of his eyes disappear, so that he only had two like Father did.

"**Are…Are you…disappointed with me, Father?" **Father knew Pride craved his approval above everything else, ever since he had first learned to talk he had lived in fear of being rejected and spurned, perhaps that fear was above even his fear of light, Father gave a wry smile, not that Pride noticed it.

"Yes…" Pride frowned, before forcing all his features away as he sank to the bottom of the flask "what would you do if I said that?" Pride's eyes snapped open, and he lifted himself back to the centre of the flask with a sheepish smile, but it quickly faded as he glanced away

"**I would…I would want you to dispose of me, if I become of no use to you…then…" **Father sighed, Pride clearly had no idea of what 'dispose' meant, having probably only heard it when he had mentioned wanting to 'dispose of the people of Cameron in the near future' a few years ago.

"Pride…you mustn't wish for such things. I gave you life, I spent many years trying to create you, I have spent forty-five years caring for you, do you want all those years to be in vain? No. I will not allow you to think that way." Father leaned forward, Pride flinched, and squeezed his eyes shut, expecting to be scolded. "Even if you hinder my work…" He put his finger to the glass, tapping against it, making Pride open his eyes "you are… precious to me. You should be _proud_, and grateful that I created you, you should want to help me. Do you understand that now?" Pride formed and stretched out a hand to meet it from inside, a weak smile on his 'face'

"**Father…thank you, I will…I will try to help you in any way I can. Even if it means I have to do things I don't like…like living with light. I'll do anything to make you proud of me."** Father smiled, picking up the flask and holding it close

"It's good that you think like that Pride, you _are_ important, but you must never consider yourself more important than _I_, though you are free to consider yourself more important than others though, please remember that. "

"**So…You are…not angry, Father?" **Pride spoke up after a few minutes, his voice more muffled than usual, the flask covered by his Father's sleeves.

"No, I could never be angry with my dear little Pride. I am very pleased with you, my child." Father grinned, delighted in the knowledge that he'd gotten Pride to co-operate, and all with simply praising him for doing nothing, maybe he could start doing real work now. "However…" Father set the flask back in its holder "Father is very busy; you must let me work now, ok?" Pride nodded by moving his whole 'body', still beaming, creating a large gap of white in the otherwise dark sphere, all the while Father shared that look of joy, though for a far different reason than pure happiness, his contained a hint of smugness. With that he stood up, the stool melting back into the floor as he started to walk away, but feeling that something was watching him he paused, glancing back at the flask, Pride smiled, not that he had stopped, but his close-mouthed smile went unseen against his body.

"Something wrong?"

"**Father…May I…watch you working? I…I want to learn things too."** Father sighed, but returned the smile, with a quick spark the stool reformed and a stack of paper, an ink stone and a quill appeared on the table next to the flask. Pride blinked, his mouth agape, he pushed himself against the glass, curious of the new objects

"**Father…What are these? Where did they come from?"**

"I used alchemy to transmute them, their names will hold no meaning to you, you will learn better through experience when you are old enough to leave your flask. But I need them to work, that is all you need to know." Pride glanced at the objects again, they were strange to him, but he couldn't deny Father's creativity in designing them. When he was old enough he wanted to use them himself, when he was old enough…

"**When **_**will **_**I be old enough?"**

"…Soon." Without another word Father sat down began working, dipping one object into another and wiping it over the third, creating strange patterns. Pride squinted, head buzzing with questions and new words, but he knew better than to disrupt Father when he was working, after all, Father's work was important.

_It would help him escape this flask._

_Then he could finally be of use to Father. _

_And then Father would be proud of him._

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A/N Aww…All Pride wants is Father's loooovvveee. Poor thing.

Did I just make a reference to anime1's dub in the second part? I think I did…I didn't mean to…

I love how Pride thinks Father invented those things on the spot…he really is naïve…

Looks like Pride's turned into Father2…but at least he's on better terms with him now


	7. A Second Child of Sin

A/N:

To previous reviewers:

larsa7: thanks for the review again, yeah…our lil' Pride's growing up…after…what…? Um…45 years…well in this chapter he's seventy so…

And hurray for female Pride fans!…and here I was thinking I was the only one. Had I updated earlier I would have agreed that Hiromu would do something great…but now that 108's out…I'll write more about it later…or maybe in my profile…

Spoilers for chapter 108- about why I haven't updated in…2 weeks

I'm really sorry everyone, chapter 108…happened and I couldn't resist spoiling myself, I've almost accepted what happened now so I hope to make it up to you with the extra long chapter that came out of nowhere again.

Chapter 108…I've only read the bit concerning Pride and…eh…I've accepted it now…might write a fic about it…I'll think about it.

*End hinted spoilers*

Now that episode 61 has been animated…baby Pride isn't white anymore, for some reason I took the manga panels as literal…but he won't be appearing again in this fic so…

This fic is now officially a T because I'm paranoid and because Lust is now officially in it~! Bout time too…

I don't really like this chapter…but I say that about all my chapters, the only one I really really like is chapter 2…seems no one else does though…

As always Hiromu Arakawa owns FullMetal Alchemist and its awesome characters.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Seven: a Second Child of Sin**

**May 21****st ****1660**

Pride forced his eyes away in an instant, turning away from the sparks that disturbed his sleep, Father had begun working again, apparently this was his most important work yet, and it showed, Pride had endured through at least…two hundreds… one ten and two of those boxes that lay on Fathers desk of the constant light, though Pride dared not ask, he had since assumed that the 'plan' had yet to succeed, the exasperated sighs and annoyed groans he heard gave him enough of an idea, but Pride would never consider Father incompetent, he was merely taking his time. Father had once smashed all of his glassware, he had yet to 'transmute' them into something superior, still littered about the floor, deep inside Pride wondered whether one day Father would perhaps turn his frustrations on him, and that it would be_ his_ flask he broke, but of course, it would only be when he was being more than an acceptable hindrance that Father would do such a thing.

Pride cared nothing for his own wellbeing, and did not wish to do anything that would displease Father, but he simply could not continue like this, ever since he had began working Pride had been feeling 'tired' more and more often, only to be awoken by the light, which only seemed to further anger Father. At the less than positive expression he had assumed that Father wanted the opposite, that he wanted him to watch his work instead. Try as he might, the more he stayed awake the worse it seemed to become. Pride didn't know what to do. And so, for the first time in two hundreds one ten and two 'boxes' Pride decided to speak.

"**Fa-"** Another flash, Father was quickly engulfed in smoke, Pride squinted through it, Father was kneeling, his sleeves trailing along the floor, panting, he made the smoke clear and leaned forward, towards whatever he had been working on **"Fa…Father…?"** Pride chanced it, calling out **"Father if I may-"**

"What is it Pride? ! Your Father is _very_ _busy_ _today._" Pride tried to ignore the strange sensation he felt inside at Father's words, his weak smile fading slightly, while Father groaned again, shaking his head, hands placed firmly on the ground, 'disposing' of the heap of whatever-he-had-been-working-on, Pride felt no curiosity for what it could have been, it was none of his business. "Well? What do you want?" Father murmured, hastily transmuting more things, preparing once again

"**Father…I…I want to know…What are you making? Whatever it is I think you should st…" **He quickly caught himself before he said something he shouldn't, but judging by the scowl Father possessed as he turned around he had understood perfectly.

"Care to repeat that Pride? You want me to stop working? Even though this is all for your benefit?"

"**I know it is Father … But we already know we're going to 'invade' that Mr. Cameron in more than three hundred 'boxes', what else must you do?"**

"Cameron is a _place_, Pride,_ not_ a person. But we have discussed this…it is none of your concern; leave me to my work, Pride. You can help me when you're older."

"**But I…I'm…worried about you…Father. You…You look…" **Pride wasn't one to assume what was normal and what was not, but Father had looked 'terrible' as of late, his eyes had lost almost all their colour, not as shiny as they used to be. They also had patches of black around them, standing out against his face. Father seemed unconvinced, transmuting something in the floor and staring at it, pulling at one of his eyelids.

"I _do_ look…" He turned back to the frowning homunculus "How long have I been working?"

"**Two hundreds one ten and two… boxes."**

"Two hundred and twelve days…then it's…it's May 21st." The name meant nothing to Pride, he wasn't familiar on how time was kept, his surroundings never changed, maybe it didn't exist at all.

"**May…two tens and one…?"**

"Yes…which means…" Father frowned, tugging at the hair on his chin. "How could I have been so…but then…_Pride_…" Pride inched backwards in his flask, perhaps he _had_ gone too far, then…

His mind wandered back, and he thought he heard the sound of breaking glass.

He hadn't gone _that_ far, had he? Father stood up slowly, his face stony as he began to approach

"**I-I…I'm S-Sorry Father, it isn't my place to t-t-t-ell you**-" Pride couldn't hide his stutter as his eyes darted from side to side, Father was looming over him now, Pride had never realized how tall he was before; he made him feel so small, so insignificant, though, in comparison to Father, he was. Without a word, Father raised his hand, his face still blank, eyes still cold. **"Father…? No, no Father… Please don't…S-Stop…" **Then Pride realized, he shouldn't be defiant, he had brought it upon himself, even though Father had told him not to think like that it seemed like the only way to explain what was happening, and it was what Pride was going to believe, for Father's sake, this would surely be of benefit to him, it would remove the annoyance that hindered him, it would be better this way…

"**If that is what you wish…Father…Then do what you will, I won't stop you; No, in fact, please do it, I said I would do anything to help you…"**

…_You mustn't think like that…Pride_

"**Even if it is something like this…"**

…_Even if you hinder my work…_

"**I hope it will make me of some use to you…"** Pride winced in preparation, his eyes squeezed shut, ready for Father to do what would be best and slam his hand down on the flask. Pride couldn't help but shake at the thought, and he hated himself for it, clenching his teeth tight, stopping his shivering, no longer daring to even move as he heard a slight crackling from above.** "I only wanted to make you proud…"**

…_You are…Precious to me…_

"**Father…"**

Pride only had time to draw in a shaky breath before his vision was swallowed up in a flash of light, shining through the shadows he used as eyelids, amplified by the glass, he made no attempt to shield himself from it as it overwhelmed his sight completely. Whatever other senses he possessed soon followed, his 'ears' filled with static and the echoing thump of Father's hand.

Pride sighed calmly as everything faded and his world returned to darkness.

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Father stared down curiously, his brow furrowed in confusion as his creation didn't stir, as if frozen in place, his face scrunched together, hands covering his eyes. With a quick sideways glance at his finished transmutation Father sat down on the stool he hadn't bothered to remove after forty years, observing the younger homunculus' unmoving form.

"What are you doing, Pride?"

A noise? Impossible, Father had disposed of him; there shouldn't have been anything after being disposed of- or so he had reasoned- and yet he could still hear and move, hands now pressing into his eyes.

"**W-What?"** He still had a voice too, strange.

"What do you think you are doing, Pride? After I went through all that trouble..." It was definitely Father's voice, even though that made no sense given the circumstances, regardless, Pride chose to answer

"**What do you mean? You-"**

"-Open your eyes Pride." Father's voice was calm, but Pride could tell that his patience had wore thin, with another uncertain breath Pride made his hands dissolve into his shadows and groggily forced his eyes open, his vision blurred. Father stared down at him, his eyebrow raised, a questioning look on his face. Pride forced a weak toothy smile, his gaze wandering to his right. Something caught his eye; he couldn't distinguish it well enough in the darkness, despite often being quite capable of making out shapes.

"**What…What is that, Father? What have you made…Y-You weren't going to…?" **Father remained silent, transmuting a candle near the object, staring at it for a moment before lighting it. He gave a quick sideways glance as his lips curled into a smile

"Why Pride…it's your birthday today. You're seventy years old now, Pride." Pride's smile twitched as he floated aimlessly, at a loss for words, Father wasn't planning to dispose of him at all…

"you have matured so much since you were born in that flask, you've done well to keep your sanity, being in there for so long, I am very proud of you and I wanted to make you feel more…appreciated, shall we say? I've been neglecting you as of late, haven't I?"

"**N-Neglecting?" **Another new word, Father shook his head, questioning how mature Pride really was, but it was to be expected, since Pride only learned words from him.

"It means _'Failing to give you the care and attention you need.' _"

"**N-n-no…of course not, I would never think such a thing. I am well aware that everything you do is for our benefit…You are free to leave me for certain periods of 'time', you haven't been neglecting me…"**

"It is the truth Pride, and so, I have made you this with alchemy" Father stepped away from the table, motioning to whatever he had made "I have heard that giving gifts to those you…_love_…is common among the _insects_ now, but since I made it… it can keep you company while I work, please appreciate it." Pride nodded with a smile, turning to the now illuminated object, he squinted, pushing his body against the glass.

It was a strange thing- shiny and colourless, with strange round blobs, five of them, covering its body, two on its hands and legs, one on its head. It looked something like Father if he didn't have any hair or clothes; its head was far too large for its body, though he'd never tell Father that. Strips of black ran over its body, wrapped around it tightly, but there was no aggression in their hold as they held it above the table in a huddled mess, gently molded to its shape. It was curled up tight, eyes lightly closed, a piece of black in the shape of a hand resting on its cheek – a frozen act of affection, Pride subconsciously ran his hand down the side of his body, where he imagined a cheek might be if he had a body like Father's, and wondered what such affection might feel like. He purged the thought, turning his attention to something glowing far above his 'present', black strips desperately reached for it, though others had already grasped it, connecting it to the 'hairless version of Father', as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

Pride couldn't for the life of him distinguish what it was, but he appreciated the energy and creativity Father must have used to make it.

"**Th-Thank you Father, it is…it is… nice, you are- of course- very, very adept at alchemy but…What is it…? It looks like you except…"** Father gave a crooked smile, glancing back and forth between the small statue and the shadow

_So he doesn't remember what he used to look like…?_

"I see…it isn't important Pride, perhaps we shouldn't copy human traditions after all…" Father leaned over the table to Pride's gift, running his finger along the statue's cheek, wandering over to the shiny object half covered by shadows, and violently tore it from the statue with a loud _snap_, a crack ran through it for a moment, it soon collapsed under the strain, leaving behind broken shards that failed to resemble anything in particular. Pride flinched, his smile disappearing as he watched the remaining pieces rock gently on the table, settling soon after.

"However, we can at least make use of _this_" Father held out his hand, the shiny pebble from the statue on his palm, Pride realized what it was with a gasp.

_A Philosopher's stone_

"**Ph-Philosopher's stone? B-b-but they are precious to you, they are important."**

"Correct, Pride. But lest you forget that _you_ are precious, important, you need the stone as much as I do, if not more so. Now…" Father placed the stone inside the flask through the tube through which Pride was fed when he was an infant, Pride latched onto it, examining it like he once had many years before, not that he could recall it.

"**Thank you, Father" **With a smile Pride opened his mouth wide and placed the stone inside carefully, snapping it closed immediately. Pride covered his mouth as he gulped, Father could only assume that the stone would be taken to his body inside the shadows, to be added to the other stone that served as a heart, or perhaps merely dissolved and used to produce more shadows, regardless, when Pride opened his mouth again, no traces of the stone remained.

"Well, Pride, I pray for your loyalty and support in my ambitions for the foreseeable future"

"**I will, Father, please do not worry, but, since it's my…**_**birthday**_**…will you please tell me what you were making…over there"**

"Ah, yes, I was trying to create a homunculus; I thought it was time to make one, but as you can see…I have been unable to create one as an adult, and our relationship has suffered for it, I apologize."

"**And…what is a homunculus?"**

"Oh, of course, I never told you, did I? Homunculi are beings superior to humans; the difference between the two is almost too great to even consider them as 'foolish'"

"**Am…Am I a human…?" **A simple enough question, Pride always chose the weaker option when it came between Father and himself, but Father wasn't going to accept such an ignorant question concerning a matter such as this.

"No Pride, you are not a human, please do not lower yourself to such a level. You are a homunculus, you are my pride and a part of me, you are _far_ superior to every human…except perhaps…no never mind that, you_ are_ superior. Nevertheless, even though they are simple minded things, humans are a good resource of ours, we use the souls of humans in Philosopher's stones, but that is all they are- energy for us to utilize, stones on which we can step to bring us closer to _our_ goal, remember that." Pride nodded, beaming; maybe he was worth something after all, though he had no idea what these humans could look like he had little expectations for things that were merely for Father to use.

"I am going to postpone making this homunculus for a while, maybe ten years or so… I was so focused that I didn't even think about what sin I should give it"

"_**Sin**_**?"**

"The sins that humans contain, there are seven in total; to achieve my goals I need to create children who embody them."

"**What are they? These '**_**sins'**_**?"**

"You want to decide which sin your sibling should have? Fine, I shall allow you one more wish, my child." Father glanced at a far away book, as if he could read it "lust, greed, sloth, gluttony, envy, wrath, pride, these are the sins that humans are tainted with. You are Pride, the first homunculus created…who do you want to be the second?" Another wide smile, Pride could hardly believe that Father was entrusting him with such a thing. Pride clasped his hands together, overcome with a sudden nervousness.

"**I…I think…how about…L…Lust? Is Lust a good choice, Father?"** Father thought for a moment, but nodded in approval

"That is a fine choice Pride. I will begin working on your _sibling_ in the future, but there are a few things we must attend to, you haven't been sleeping, have you Pride?" Pride's response was interrupted by a yawn, confirming Father's suspicions "Since you are a part of me…well…I have not been sleeping either, it must have affected you too.." Father blew out the candle that had almost melted by now, and pushed Pride's flask further onto the table for good measure "You are free to sleep now Pride, I will not be using alchemy for a while." Father also yawned, rubbing at one of his eyes "_Sleep_ child, you need to look after yourself, though… it seems that I too…need to sleep" Pride watched through drooping eyes as Father teetered over to his chair and slowly sat in it "…Goodnight Pride" within minutes Father became still, room seeming to become darker as he went to sleep, Pride relaxed a little as it did, yawning once again as he decided it would be best to obey his Father and follow suit. Pride let himself drift down to the bottom of his flask, forcing his eyes and mouth away, his arms fading against his shadows.

"**Goodnight…Father…"** Pride repeated, though unsure of what the word meant, and with a weak but satisfied sigh he fell asleep, his thoughts filled with Father's approval and the idea of having another to interact with, another of Father's sins, a _sibling_.

Then all was silent except for the slight breaths of the two homunculi. And perhaps, for a single moment, all was right in the world, as the sin of pride and his creator slept, neither thinking of what atrocities they could possibly commit once they awoke.

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**October 29****th**** 1678**

Pride…

_Pride…_

"Pride wake up!" Father's voice and an unfamiliar shaking ripped Pride out of his dream, whatever it was, Pride hardly had time to yawn as he was flung about the flask.

"**W-What is it Father? What's wrong? Did**_** I**_** do something wrong? I'm s-"** Pride managed to say despite often smashing into the glass.

"No, No, Pride, nothing like that, quite the opposite in fact, look_, look_" Father pointed over to the floor, his voice quick and shaky, Pride's flask tight under his left arm. Pride narrowed his eyes at the smoke covered floor, curious at what Father could have created to be so excited, and then he remembered.

"**Father…You…You've made…**_**Lust**_**…really?" **Pride's voice had quickly become erratic like his Father's, sharing his burst of enthusiasm.

"Yes, I have succeeded, it seems that taking a break was of great benefit, I was able to research different methods of creating homunculi, and I have you to thank for it, Pride"

"**You are too generous, Father,"** Pride grinned nonetheless, swirling himself around in anticipation. **"but I am grateful for the compliment**." he stopped himself as the smoke began to clear, he mustn't miss the birth of Father's creation.

"Now, Lust is very different from you, but please respect your sibling as you would respect me, Lust is also a part of me, as you are." Pride whispered an 'I will, Father' and focused more on the unmoving figure on the floor "Lust has been created with knowledge, so is able to read and write, but please do not be disheartened, you will learn much more through experience." The mess on the floor groaned, dragging itself forward, long fingers carving lines into the stone, Father repaired it instantly, but made no attempt to aid the homunculus

"**Are…You sure he can move himself without help?"**

"_She,_ Pride, _she_ will be fine, she is very capable,_ I_ made her after all."

"'**She'?"**

"Oh…_that_. Just… just watch Pride." Pride stayed silent as 'she' crept ever closer, seemingly having more confidence now, forcing herself onto her knees, she gazed up at the pair, more focused on Father, Father stared back, his face blank, but demanding respect. Pride also stared, almost in awe of the younger homunculus, his _siblin_g.

She seemed to have nothing in common with Father, Long black hair trailing down her back, having been previously obscuring her face. She was tall from what he could tell, though not as tall as Father, much paler than Father too, maybe it was the contrast in her hair and skin, Pride didn't know. Her fingers seemed shorter now, he wasn't too sure. In another defiant contrast she was clothed all in black, a few red spots disturbing it on her arm length gloves, nothing like Father's white robes. She really was different to him; most oddly she had a strange red design on her chest, just above a pair of large peculiar lumps that were pushed up, constricted in her tight black cloak.

Father seemed pleased, her pinkish-red eyes still locked with his, her lips twitched, trying to imitate his smile, still paying no attention to the little homunculus in the flask.

"Father, I am grateful that you have given me life" Lust didn't even stutter as she spoke her first words, bowing slightly in appreciation. Father nodded, and she shakily stood up, high shoes covering her feet.

"Thank you, I pray for your constant loyalty Lust. This…" Pride was suddenly pushed forward as Father displayed him to his sibling "…is Pride, he is your older brother, please treat him as you would me." Lust stepped towards the flask, leaning over as to not loom over the smaller yet older homunculus.

"Hello there, Pride, it is a pleasure to meet you" she reached out, running her fingers along the front of the flask, a now perfected but well meaning smirk on her face "I hope that we will be able to be of use to our Father, _Big Brother._" Pride couldn't speak, she was too intelligent for a new born, almost as smart as him, it was wrong of him to feel 'jealous' of her, so why did he…?

'_Father didn't want me to be lonely, creating homunculi that are as smart as me means that I won't need to wait for them to learn…'_

That explanation was what Pride accepted as the truth. Discarding the thought almost immediately, Pride met Lust's hand through the glass, returning the smile

"**Nice to meet you, Lust, but the pleasure is all mine, I hope that when I am able to escape this flask that we may support Father together" **

Father grinned to himself, delighted that his children did not see their differences to represent their strengths and weaknesses; after all, if they couldn't cooperate they would never be able to assist him in his plans. He watched as Lust took Pride's flask and held it close, examining him as well as she could, eager to learn new things outside the knowledge she was born with. Pride was just as curious, though filled with the sin he embodied as Lust fussed over her 'Big brother'. What could this bond between the homunculi mean? Did love actually exist in beings which weren't supposed to feel anything outside their respective sin?

Father wasn't sure, but he knew one thing for certain.

His lair would only get noisier from now on.

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I've made it seem that everything Father says is just a lie now…episode 61 didn't really help my opinion of him. How dare he break Pride's little glass statue present…I actually didn't want him to break it…but I needed to get rid of it and he has had a bad habit of making things melt in previous chapters.

Is Lust too cutesy here…? Well she is only a few minutes old…

Reviews are appreciated~

I promise to update the next chapter quicker since it's pretty short (sorry in advance)


	8. That World Outside the Glass

A/N:

To previous reviewers:

Larsa7: wow a really long review, thanks for taking your time to write it all ^_^ Ok what to address first…

About Pride- Yeah…with Pride this innocent I'm gonna have to do something really terrible to make him like he is in the series…

About Father- In Father's defense (why am I defending Father…? Not sure but I had best explain myself) he didn't intentionally mean to frighten Pride, it was Pride's paranoia that made him think Father was going to get rid of him, it isn't Father's fault he has evil looking eyes. Plus Pride still seems to think that somehow he would be of more use to Father dead, or rather 'out of the way', since he doesn't really know what death is yet.

About Pride's Present-Now…Breaking Pride's present…well for one it had a Philosopher's stone in it, Father doesn't want to waste one (even though he seems to waste a lot on randomly transmuting things) for _Pride's _sake, especially since Pride didn't recognize it (I'm going to assume Father was going to use it as another 'Pride encouragement/loyalty speech' about how his old form was inferior or something). And…Father made it to keep Pride company while he worked on Lust, but since he decided to take a ten year break he didn't need it to keep him company…great… more bonding time… Wow I've made a lot of excuses…need to stop defending Father like this... you know that when you're trying to guess what the character you wrote about is up to or if he was implying something different to what you made him do, something isn't right…I really don't trust a thing Father says or does anymore…

About-Pride deciding Lust…he didn't _really_…since it was the one Father strategically said first, though I took the sin-order from Hohenheim's speech with Father when they face off in Chapter Ninety…something. So he may have been planning on making Lust all along…Besides… Father _really_ seems to want Pride to think he's special… I need to enforce Pride's blind loyalty somehow…

About Lust's personality- The fact that she's just been born not withstanding…we never see Lust and Pride interact in the manga or the anime, but I assume she would hold great respect for her only older sibling, since I think she only treats humans badly, I mean look how close she is with gluttony, why Lust and Pride aren't close in the series however…I might dare to go into that.

Oh and don't worry about double posting and forgetting that I'd read chapter 106…it happens ^_^

…he looks like a peanut? *thinks* Please Excuse me while I go practice drawing a 4koma where Father thinks he made a peanut in a flask instead of Pride…

I'll write my opinions on chapter 108 next chapter or else the author's note will be too long…

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Bloodclancat: Thanks for the review, its nice to see people reading what I write despite the terrible chapter delays. And…really? Everyone's in character? I thought I wasn't working out too well… keeping everyone in character, at least I'm doing an acceptable job of it ^_^ thanks again~.

And…Dialogue! How I hate it, it takes ages to make it sound right! And now that Lust is in there's more than ever! I spent like…4 days on one awkward sentence, blame _it_ for the chapter delay!

Anyway….the Pride and Lust! Adventure in mini Central starts now! What havoc shall be wrought upon this small town…?

Too long an author's note…but I guess the chapter'll make it up…hopefully…

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Eight: That ****World outside the glass**

**September 14****th**** 1680**

"…And that is how I taught those humans upstairs how to perform alchemy, they were, of course, very grateful, and I have been given much control of this growing country ever since." Neither Lust nor Pride dared to glance away, quite captivated by Father's story of when he was younger- back before even Pride was born- though the two homunculi only seemed concerned with relatively recent events, Father's stories were, of course, always relevant and of the upmost importance. The younger homunculi gave an enthusiastic applause as Father announced a quiet 'The end' with a whispered '…for now' following soon after it. Lust clapped softly, cautious to not put too much weight on Pride's flask as she leaned against it lightly. Pride did his best to imitate it, though his applause went rather unheard as his shadows melded together to accommodate each others shape when they met. Pulling them apart irritably, Pride decided to speak up

"**Excuse me for asking Father but…What became of Mr. Ho… Ho…H-hohen…"**

"Hohenheim." Lust politely interrupted

"**Thank you Lust, what became of him after you two…parted ways?"**

"'What happened to Van Hohenheim?' …There are some things that even your Father doesn't know, Pride. After I gave him that immortal body he wandered off to somewhere in the east, and he hasn't, to my knowledge, returned since then, perhaps one day we may find out what became of that little human slave 23. How about we find out together?" Pride and Lust nodded,

"**When I leave my flask I can go…**_**out there**_**…really Father?"**

"Yes, Pride, you must see the outside world too, Lust has seen it, you need to as well, _someday_."

"**Someday…" **Pride echoed glumly, but soon perked up as he got an idea "**hey…Lust.**"

"What is it Pride?"

"**What is it like…**_**outside?**_**"**

"Oh? It's…nice…full of humans…big…"

"**Bigger than in here?"**

"Bigger…than this room?" Lust glanced around, to Pride at least; the room was the biggest (or rather only) room he had seen in his life, though even the table he was placed on was far too large for him. Pride thought he saw Father flash Lust a slight grin, one that seemed to say 'it can't be helped', Pride's scowl went unseen against his body "oh yes Pride, much bigger than here, you'd have to see it though, I can't believe you haven't been outside yet, I'm not even two years old and you're already…eighty?"

"…**Ninety."**

"Then that's even worse! You must hurry up and be able to live outside that flask, Pride; it can't be good for you- staying in there for so long!" Lust shook his flask teasingly, the playful smirk told Pride not to worry "I don't know why we can't just-"

"You say you're _ninety_ now, Pride?" Lust stopped instantly, and Pride nodded, steadying himself. "Then…then you _can_ go outside, Lust is rather skilled at imitating a human now, so she can take you, you should be able to live outside your flask for a short time too, but make sure to take the flask with you. I am going to assume you would like to go with Lust the next time she pays the world above a visit, right Pride?" Father's sarcastic side appeared for once, flashing a smile as Pride remained still, silent, as if he thought he had misheard his Father's words. "Excellent. Now, Lust; take Pride with you when you go to town today. I can trust you to look after your sibling, can't I? You are to protect him at all costs." Lust set Pride aside and nodded with a bow

"I will put his safety above even my own, Father; please do not worry about that." Lust glanced back to her silent sibling "Well, Pride, do you want to come outside with me today?" Pride didn't reply, glancing between Lust and his Father, as if doubting what he had heard. He turned to Father,

"**You…you…I can go **_**outside**_**…with Lust…?" **Seeing the clear sincerity in their eyes, Pride paused, a great expanse of white eating away at his body, while his eyes widened until they were too big and gelled together, Father smiled wistfully at him, Pride resembled his previous form so much when he only had one eye, though he was not nearly as intelligent, and instead preferred two eyes, imitating _him_ no doubt. The smile quickly faded, and Pride ripped his eye back into two with ease, adjusting their positions slightly. With an open mouthed frown he stared up at Lust, wringing his hands nervously. **"Is…is there l-light outside…Lust? I…I-"**

"He doesn't like light Lust, you can understand that can't you?" Father stepped in with a smile, placing his hand on Lust's shoulder, Lust turned and nodded, before kneeling down, deciding against sitting on Father's stool.

"Well…It's about…" Lust paused, calculating the time difference from when she visited town that morning "six o'clock, so…since it's autumn…it'll be dark soon, so it will be fine if we go now" Lust concluded with a weak smile, picking up the flask and holding it in front of her face "…only if you want to of course." She added as an afterthought, Father always enforced that she treat Pride with respect; she couldn't be forcing into Pride something he didn't want to do. The reappearance of Pride's grin told her that she hadn't said something out of line.

"**I…I'd like that…Lust, thank you. C-can we go now…Father?" **

"Please bring him back before tomorrow, Lust" Pride almost scowled, Lust was younger than him, surely he could take care of himself, he didn't need her to look after him, the thought was swiftly forgotten, Father knew what was best for him, he shouldn't question him. "Go and get dressed Lust, you mustn't spend too long outside, especially with Pride with you." Father took Pride and ushered her away with a nonchalant wave of his hand, both of them watched as she disappeared into another part of Father's lair.

"**You aren't coming with us, Father?" **Pride spoke up after a few minutes of a particularly unnerving silence

"Your Father is very busy, I can't spend my time dealing with humans, that is why I have not taken you up there myself, now that we have Lust you have the chance to learn while I figure out how to get you out of there" Father tapped against the flask, demonstrating his point "Do not look so disheartened Pride, you have nothing to worry about, you are in safe hands with Lust, _I_ made her didn't I?" Pride nodded slowly, and turned as footsteps echoed behind him- Lust had returned, wearing a long dirty white cloak similar to Father's, but her gloves peeked out from underneath her sleeves, showing that she still had her normal clothes beneath her human attire.

"Well then, _Big Brother_, shall we go?" Father passed the flask over, not waiting for Pride to reply, even if Pride didn't want to go he had no means of stopping them if they decided to ignore him.

_And all because he was stuck in his flask…_

Regardless, Pride didn't even think of objecting, he needed a change in scenery, and it would please Father if he learned new things and let him work. Continuing to exchange fleeting glances and wide smiles, Lust held the flask close, almost protectively, in Pride's eyes. Lust had a job to do; she had much to teach her older sibling about the world, she couldn't disappoint Father.

With another respectful bow, Lust hurried away, while Pride floated silently, happily bouncing along with her steps, his mind abuzz with thoughts of the world outside, of the things Father had created for his 'growing country', of those pathetic humans that roamed about, that only existed for Father to use.

Yes.

He'd find out things with Lust

He'd meet these 'humans'.

He'd learn how to use them to help Father.

And maybe he'd find that 'Van Hohenheim' that dared to betray Father's trust.

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"…and that's a 'lamp', humans can't see very well in the dark, so they need them to light up the place, they hang them outside their houses so that other humans can see where they are. Humans are like that, but you need to know this sort of thing." Pride nodded, not that Lust saw it, the flask placed under her arm. They had been travelling aimlessly about the world outside for some time now, and Pride had learned many things during that time, like the pale thing above them was the sky, and they lived on the ground, the sky was 'blue', a colour that looked like fire, but it often changed colour so Pride didn't ask what else it could be. The ground was covered in 'stones', not Philosopher's stones, apparently normal stones that were dull and rather boring, Pride preferred not to look at them, and instead watched the humans scurry about like the 'insects' they were.

They looked a lot like Lust and Father did, but Pride chose to look upon them with disdain, Lust couldn't, since she supposedly had to act like a human, not wanting to draw much attention to herself as she pointed at objects and told Pride the purpose they served. It seemed most of her efforts were in vain, as the long haired humans with lumps on the front of their bodies looked at her and turned their noses up with disgust, with a quick glance Pride assumed they didn't like the fact that the lumps Lust had were larger, Pride half-wondered why she didn't save time and hold his flask with them, they were clearly big enough, and that was the only purpose they could serve, Father wouldn't have made them like that otherwise.

"Oh look…another one…" Lust whispered with a sigh, motioning lazily at the approaching figure. It was another one of those shorter haired humans, unlike the others they approached her with wide smiles, never speaking to her directly, staring down at something else, Pride generally ignored them, Lust paid them no attention either, slapping their hands away and briskly turning away from them. This particular one was carrying a large bunch of flowers in his hand, he stopped nearby, panting

"H-Hello there. What you got with you?" Lust began, maintaining her politeness for the time being but stepping back slightly, ready to push him away should his hands go wandering, like all the rest. Instead, he simply offered of the flowers with a weak smile

"I…I got them from th-the Ar…Ar…the flower lady, she said these were… the most expensive ones she had…and I just thought…" With another smile, he urged her to take the flowers, and when she did he quickly ran off, Pride watched him go, widening one of his eyes in confusion.

"**He was…different."** Lust lifted the flowers to her face, inspecting the supposedly most expensive flowers the flower lady had grown.

"He was…" Lust agreed, continuing to stare at her 'gift', she let her act drop for a while, contorting her face into a scowl "Just ignore him Pride; he's just like all the other men, persistent, troublesome, typical human behavior." Lust said bitterly, plucking the petals from the bouquet and scrunching them up "Humans are selfish, Pride, never think any different."

"'**Selfish?'"**

"Oh, it's _'showing that personal needs and wishes are thought to be more important than those of other people'._ Here, he gave me flowers didn't he? He didn't give me them to make me feel better, _no_, he gave me them so that _I'd _thank _him_ and _he'd_ feel good about himself...though he could have been after _something else_ as well…"

"**I…I don't…"**

"Another example then? Ok…" Lust motioned towards the road, someone was helping one of the hunched over humans across the street "They only help each other so that they can get satisfaction and praise, or raise their reputations in the minds of others…always to better themselves…_always_…"

"**Humans are terrible…aren't they Lust? Maybe only someone like Father can not be selfish…he made us after all…and he didn't need to…" **Pride whispered, not really understanding it all, but he decided that it would be best to just agree with what Lust thought about humans, she had spent more time with them after all.

"Indeed…selfishness probably doesn't exist between a parent and their offspring…especially not Father, Father doesn't ask anything of us, even though he created us, he is without those human flaws." Lust continued on through the streets, the humans were starting to pack away their shops in the market, they never stayed out long in the autumn, did they fear the dark that much? Lust wasn't sure, but that wouldn't stop the men pestering her later.

"**Once…He told me he wanted his children to be loyal…and grateful…but that's natural, anyone would be loyal to the one that gave them life."**

"It's complicated…isn't it, Pride? Come on…we'd best be going soon, it's getting…" Lust stopped abruptly, glancing down at the flask bound homunculus "'Children?' And he told you this before I was born? Does that mean Father is going to create more homunculi?"

"'_**lust, greed, sloth, gluttony, envy, wrath, pride, these are the sins that humans are tainted with'."**_ Pride repeated Father's words with ease **"That's what Father said, he wants to make children named after those sins. That means he's going to make…five more? ...Right?" **Lust nodded and smiled, resuming her usual pace, paying no heed to the prolonged glances she received as she went

"Well, we won't be that lonely in the future will we? Greed Sloth Gluttony Envy Wrath…sounds interesting. Do you think Father will make them like he did you- in that flask, you _were_ born in there weren't you? Or like…um…however I was made?" Lust asked with a slight laugh, she really had no idea how she was made, and as long as she was alive she didn't really care, but if Pride knew then she might as well ask him, he always liked being told he was smart. "Well…?" Hearing no reply she glanced down towards her sibling, Pride remained silent, his eyes squinted and his hands clasped together in a fuzzy black ball. "O-o-oh, never mind, I'm sure i-it really isn't important how Father makes them…" Lust stuttered, suddenly nervous, she'd said something that had upset Pride, was it telling him that he was inside that flask? He didn't seem to mind earlier, but that couldn't be good for his self esteem… and Father had said that was important to Pride.

Lust wasn't sure what to do, flitting her eyes aimlessly, trying to think of something else to talk about "M-Maybe we should g-"

"**Lust…" **The younger homunculus froze in place,and slowly turned her head, half wondering what was going on beneath that often unreadable shadow of her older brother

"W-What is it, P-Pride…?"

"**You know how humans are selfish…? Well…I think that…I…that I'm selfish too… Does that mean I'm a human?" **Lust lifted the flask up, Lust wasn't supposed to talk down to Pride, and she didn't want him telling Father that she'd upset him.

"That's nonsense Pride; of course you're a homunculus! Father made you, just like he made me and just like he'll make the rest of us. Father wouldn't lie to you." Pride didn't seem convinced, still staring at the floor through the glass

"**But you have a body that's different to mine, yours is like Father's…so…" **he pulled his hands apart, clenching them together along with his teeth. "**Even though it's horrible and ungrateful and 'selfish'…even though I'm not supposed to be selfish… I…" **With a forced sigh he looked up, his eyes clouded and shiny with something that looked like shame, Lust didn't say a word, not wanting to make any further assumptions.

"**I want a body like Father's too…"**

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A/N: The birth of Pride's full name basis! _What have I done_? And tsk tsk Lust, telling Pride the sky's blue while you're visiting Central in the evening! Hopefully he'll forget that…at least she's as good at making speeches as Father is…

Oh Pride… thinking Lust can hold your flask in her…yeah… you guys can blame that 4koma where she cracks walnuts with them…darn you Arakawa…making me make Pride that naïve…

The Armstrong flower lady has served the Armstrong family for generations…_**GENERATIONS!**_

Now…about Pride wanting a body, since episode 63 came out and it was revealed that…um episode 63 spoilers

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…that Father really just wanted freedom, hence his desire to escape his flask back in Xerxes…well…Pride isn't like that, he doesn't mind living in his flask, since, in his special reasoning, Father made him like this therefore it's for the best and everything Father does is _the best_! Like that…but since Father said it's a bad thing to be inside his flask (obvious bitterness), and insists that Pride can only be of use to him when he gets out…and we all know Pride wants his Father to love him, that's probably the only reason he wants a body like Lust has…or maybe he's feeling jealous of Lust… But even then he thinks that he's being ungrateful…Pride really needs to sort out his opinions on what'll make Father happy…or maybe just calm down and stop thinking he's easily disposable…

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And once again…there's way too much dialogue in this chapter…I hate it hate it hate it! I think I've jumped the shark *Shame* …

Please no flames…I think the fact that the last episode of Brotherhood is in…five days has gotten to me…

I hope there won't be as much dialogue in the next chapter…


	9. A Single Selfish Wish

Word's longest author's note coming up!

Reviewers:

Larsa7: Another long review, thanks again, category response again I suppose

Blind Loyalty: I think that animal is a duck…but I'm not too sure, well since Father isn't in this chapter I don't need to write about it ^_^

4Koma- If I get it finished and make a DeviantArt account I'll be sure to inform you.

Father's carelessness- I need to keep reminding myself that Father doesn't care about his homunculi, I can't seem to find a balance since I keep changing my mind about whether he actually loved them or not. And yes, Lust is a good little sister, not so good with humans 'mind but at least to Pride.

Father's 'slowness': I'm quite convinced that Father hasn't been doing ANYTHING to get Pride out of his flask, since in the old real world legends of homunculi if you managed to create one you needed to keep it in a flask during its 'infancy stage', I'm not sure whether this means age or maturity but I suppose Father's just being caution and assumes that Pride's old enough after nearly 100 years. He just says he's trying to get him out keep Pride patient.

Lust's opinions on humans: of course she's wrong; but homunculi never seemed to really understand humans. But on the subject of parent-child selfishness, if she said it can exist between a parent and child Pride might have not accepted the idea of Father being selfless so easily. Besides, I really want to cement that idea in Pride's head that humans only care about themselves, so he can have a right mental lapse when Mrs. Bradley saves him from that car later on ^_^.

Father's fate in chapter 108- I felt sorry for him too…not to mention he provided me the Pride frown I envisioned…except with one eye, and those tears… poor guy only wanted freedom, and probably because Hohenheim secretly wanted freedom, look what your blood did now! I still cried when he died though, stupid rain…the song, not…

Dialogue: I'm rather the opposite, I don't like my characters talking, since I try too hard to make it sound natural, but I needed all those things to be said in the chapter… I hope this chapter's up to scratch though. And…Action?…ehh…I don't think I write that so good…but I think some _'action's'_ planned for next chapter…maybe…

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Dan and Dom: thanks for the review, and yes Manga Pride needs more love, but then I think about Manga Sloth he's got no fics at all… anyway… I knew the order of the homunculi but thanks anyway, though now there'll be no suspense in case some people didn't know, but I wasn't going for suspense so it's fine.

**Extra bits:**

With the finale of Brotherhood coming out tomorrow, and since I didn't mention it before I have managed to pin point what it was about 108 that I didn't like, not counting that it seemed a little rushed. Spoilers for Pride's part of 108 of course.

Now, just so you know, I loved 106, though , and when I saw baby Pride in the raw…I was surprised…but that Japanese 'ma…ma' made my heart kinda melt, in context in was adorable, since (at the time) it represented, to me anyway, how Pride had realized that Father didn't care about him, and for his last thoughts before being defeated to be about his 'parents' (which reminded me that Wrath was dead…*sad*) and for his first thoughts/words afterwards to be about his mother…it showed that he had accepted her love and rejected his Father's… 'love' . Now 108 comes out and…Timeskip forward two years and…Pride is back…with a…bird…and a cat! And with amnesia apparently… I was happy that he was alive…but at the same time…it wasn't Pride… it was just some 1-soul homunculus who Mrs. Bradley was looking after in place of Pride…I guess he's banned from Central too unless Mrs. Bradley wants to be called insensitive or mad (Since Selim apparently died on the Promised Day along with Wrath…and giving your new child the same name seems…a bit odd…). I think it was worse in that he has amnesia, since I'm pretty sure that Pride liked behaving himself for Mrs. Bradley, but now that this Pride is doing it while completely unaware of the terrible things he did…it kinda makes him staying alive pointless…since he doesn't know what he's done and can't do anything to atone for it, even though I suppose if he lives normally that can be atoning in itself.. I guess Arakawa couldn't bring herself to not give Mrs. Bradley a happy ending…speaking of Mrs. Bradley…not counting the fact that she took her wedding ring off in the last chapter…those two years seemed to have aged her really badly…she looks way older…and that bun is reminding me of Dante…that can't be good…

Now when I look back at 106 I don't have that same…sense of appreciation I had, since I know that it isn't really 'Pride', at least not the Pride we all know and love, its effectively just a baby acting out of instinct to call for its mother…It just…doesn't work the same…it doesn't represent anything…not like it would if he still had his memories anyway. The way it turned out it could be anyone's soul in there…it might not even be Pride's, since Envy retained his memories when he was reduced to his true form…hmm….things just got more interesting…

Anyway…is he wearing the same clothes he was 'defeated' in…but stitched up? Since the shorts seem longer because he's shorter, his sleeves are rolled up and the seams where his shoulders should be are hanging over his shoulders slightly. Well if it is it kinda shows how not being the fuhrer's wife anymore has affected the Bradley family's source of income…and her hair's shorter…maybe she sold it to be used for wigs…bad, bad implications…gotta stop thinking about it…everything gets revealed in colour tomorrow… gonna be sad to see it go after so long… I feel worse for those who've been following the manga since the beginning…:( But I can't keep wasting this author's note on it.

Sorry, had to get that off my chest.

**Bits about the chapter ahead:**

A chapter without a two week gap *gasp* I tried really hard to get this finished before the last episode, and I succeeded, hope the quality didn't take a dive for it though

Anyway the Adventure in Central continues! Havoc can still be wrought…if Lust brings Pride out of this depression

Sorry for the super long author's note, but I needed to have my 108 rant before the episode came out.

Arakawa…still owns the characters!

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Nine: a Single Selfish Wish**

"**I'm awful… aren't I? I should be someone you look up to, what chance do you have if I'm like this, selfish like those humans?"**

"I do look up to you Pride, see?" Lust lifted the flask higher with a smile, demonstrating her point literally "besides, I already told you, you aren't selfish."

"**Don't try to cheer me up Lust; someone like me doesn't deserve your respect or your**** humour****, please don't talk to me." **Pride turned away, forcing his eyes away but allowing his pained frown to remain for the time being. Lust's smile faded and as quickly twisted into a thin line

"_No_. Pride. I have been given strict instructions from Father to treat you as I would him. I need to keep you happy and I intend to fulfill Father's wishes. I, who know more about these humans, am well aware of what constitutes being 'selfish' and what does not. Pride, do you want to have a body like Father's in order to brag and consider yourself better than Father?"

"**N-no, of course not, how can you think that I wou—" **Pride turned himself back around in an instant, appalled at Lust's audacity to imply such a thing, was this what she was like when she wasn't with Father?

"Then tell me Pride- why _do_ you want a body?" Lust didn't let him finish, her voice sharp, laced with suspicion and sarcasm, all the while demanding respect- just like Father's. Pride froze at once, his eyes wide with a sense of shock he never expected to feel with Lust.

"**I-" **Pride stuttered, unable to produce a reasonable answer,why _did_ he want a body? Was it just a selfish whim? No, he wanted to touch things and see things properly, undistorted by the glass, he wanted to hold things and not be the one being held, he wanted to be able to take care of himself, he wanted to stand and walk on this stone covered 'ground' like Lust and Father did.

_Like Lust and Father did…_

"…**I can't do anything in this flask, I'm completely useless to Father while I'm in here, but **_**you, **_**you help Father all the time, going outside while he works, telling him what the humans are up to. I want a body so I can help Father and learn things through ****experience**** like he says." **Pride replied simply; completely unaware of the questioning stares they were starting to receive as the younger homunculus seemed to argue with the flask she was carrying about- a strange occurrence in itself. Lust nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

"Precisely. You want a body so you can help Father, not to help yourself, how is helping someone else selfish? You want nothing in return. Therefore…you are not selfish Pride. Now…" Lust lowered the flask, holding it directly in front of her face.

"**Lu-"**

"Please do _not_ compare yourself to a human again, Pride, really, what would our Father say if he heard you talking like this? !" Pride flinched at her outburst, banging into the back of his flask with a quiet thump. After a moment he opened his eyes, the guilty frown still plastered all over his face

"**I…I'm sorry Lust…I know…I shouldn't have…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" **Pride murmured softly to himself, covering his eyes with his hands, shaking slightly, Lust could only manage to compare it what the humans called crying, for a moment feeling sorry for her flask-contained sibling. After a minute or two he sighed, raising his head with a weak smile and a forced laugh** "What kind of big ****brother**** am I? After Ninety years…I haven't matured at all, have I? I'm a hopeless thing…in this flask of mine…Needing to be scolded by someone younger than me…"** Lust returned the smile as best she could, realizing that she had no means of comforting him outside if it. Lust suddenly stiffened up, finally grasping what she had done.

"P-P-Pride. I…I…I didn't mean to shout at you like that, you, you won't tell Father will you…? I-it wasn't my place to t-tell you what to-" Lust stopped her futile attempts to excuse herself, noticing Pride's amused smirk

"**Lust…it's fine, I won't tell Father, it isn't important, besides, if you hadn't said those things…well…let's forget about it."** Lust shook her head with a sigh

"We can't just forget about it…now that we know you're unhappy, I can't just stand around and do nothing…" Lust faked a pout, thinking of a way to help solve his predicament "how about….I can help you find a body, I know lots of people in town and I need to atone for scolding you, don't I?"

"**You'd do that for me, Lust?" **

"Of course, Father doesn't mind, he just wants you to be happy, and if escaping that flask is what would make you happy then it is my job to help you do it." Lust patted the flask lightly, hoping that one day she wouldn't be separated from her brother by it, then she could actually do something, she could take better care of him and not just _try_ to help him with strings of comforting words. Pride nodded and whispered a 'thank you'

"It's no trouble Pride. Now, let's go, much work to do, I promise that soon you'll be out of that flask, Big Brother"

"**I hope so Lust…I hope so."** Pride whispered to himself as she escorted him to another part of town, he glanced up at his younger sibling, at the confident smile on that pale face of hers. With another sigh Pride let his hands dissolve, letting Lust take him wherever she wanted, still longing for the day he could control where and when he went. Lust seemed determined, and as he watched the fire-like sky darken over in the distance, he wondered how confident Lust was in her plan, and what that could mean. Regardless, he knew that somehow, it would be some time before he returned to that sheltered world below.

…and even longer before he saw Father again.

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Pride blinked in the darkness, the faintest of 'blue' still remaining in the sky, patient, silent, waiting for Lust to return. He swirled himself around, contorting his shadowed form into varied shapes for no other reason than to temporarily quash his sense of unease, to waste time until Lust got back, whenever that would be. Content with his new shape as it settled, Pride sighed, and thought of what his missing sibling could be up to.

She'd hurried away a while ago, at least what felt like a while, off to find another body for him, teasingly cursing her brother for being so awkward, but still doing as she was told, wandering off with the promise that when she returned she would have the perfect body for him- Pride wished he could believe her, but was doubtful, after so many failed attempts- too tall, too thin, too…something, Pride had give any and every excuse, not meaning any of them, he didn't want to tell her he didn't like her options. She had promised to find the body he always wanted, but perhaps even he didn't know what he wanted.

Something scurried through the alley, not a human, but Lust wasn't there to tell him what it was, he scowled at it as it passed him, determined to capture it once he acquired a body. He heard it stop close by, making a quiet chewing sound, deciding against turning around he pulled one of his eyes behind him, opening it wider in hope of seeing better. His vision blurred, unable to focus as he saw in two different places at once, he pulled his eye back to its normal place and rubbed at it softly, hoping that he hadn't done any permanent damage, he didn't want to need to pester Father to fix him.

Pride stared out of the alley, at the small lamp hung on the wall, humans couldn't see well in the dark, apparently he couldn't anymore either, he didn't know why, but disregarded it. Someone stepped into the light, and Pride almost smiled, but decided against it seeing the other person draped over it.

"Look, Pride, got another one."

"**He's nice…Lust" **Lust pushed at the figure slumped up against her, displaying the human as well as she could. Pride squinted at the new body; it hardly seemed capable of holding itself up, a dark look in its eyes as it stared blankly in a random direction. Pride tried not to scoff, unable to pick up its hair colour in the dim lighting.

"You…don't want this one either… do you, Pride?" Lust frowned, letting the human drop gracelessly to the floor, after a few seconds a muffled groan reached Pride's 'ears', he ignored it.

"**I'm sorry, Lust. I just…"** Pride recalled how the short-haired humans had given Lust pointless gifts and followed her around, how closing just one of her eyes or licking her lips would make any of them try to drag her away until she taught them some sense **"I don't want a body you can so easily manipulate, I'm older than you…it wouldn't be right…"**

"Fine. Fine. If you don't want my help…"

"**No no, I didn't mean it like-"**

"I'm joking Pride, I don't mind, we can just ask Father to make you one, I'm sure he'd be happy to." The figure had picked itself up now, speaking slowly and using words Pride couldn't understand "Better get rid of this guy first…" Lust turned slowly, before bringing her hand swiftly across the human's cheek "Date's off, now get!" she pointed, directing him which way to go, he didn't move "I said _get_! Go on!" Another slap, another slow reaction. Lust sighed "You men…never learn do you…?" she half chuckled, her fringe falling neatly over her eyes as she gripped his hands tight and led him away. "I'll be _right back_, Pride, don't go anywhere…" a few moments passed in silence, before Lust returned alone, one of her fingers in her mouth, Pride couldn't understand the reasoning, but didn't bother to question it. "I _hate_ persistent men…" Satisfied, Lust examined her fingers, randomly changing the lengths seemingly out of boredom "Well now…shall we go?" Lust asked, picking up the flask.

"**Yes…let's go ho-"**

"_You_, girl, girl with the flask, yes you!" Pride turned himself towards to voice, while Lust just looked through the corner of her eye. Blonde hair, running, seemingly worn out…

"I saw all my flowers on the floor" It was that one from before…

"And what do _you_ want,_ flower-boy_. I don't like persistent men." Lust hissed, not even trying to keep up her act.

"I'm not being persistent, I was simply going to ask if you would like to have dinner with me tonight, you always look so dreadfully lonely around town with your…anyway, all those other…men, they treat you quite terribly, if I do say so." Lust raised her eyebrow "And what, pray tell, is in it for _you_. You are aware of how late it is in the day, one could suspect you desire _something else_ this evening."

"The company of a beautiful young woman, nothing more, nothing less." Lust didn't seem convinced, men always wanted _something else_, he was just being more discreet about it than the others, but…it seemed interesting… Lust was intrigued…she could take a chance just this once…

"Ok then, you who can buy the most expensive flowers in town like they're nothing. Please excuse me for a moment; I need to hide this flask"

"You are free to bring it with y-"

"_No_…I _need_ to keep it _here_." A quick flick of her eyelashes convinced him that she was correct "Please excuse me for a moment" She waved him away with a smile, and he instantly obliged, quickly hurrying out of sight. Pride had caught sight of Lust's snide smirk, and had been fidgeting in his flask for sometime, not that the flower-buying human saw it. Lust laid the flask back down deep in the alley- where it had been before-

"Sorry about this, Pride. But I need to-"

"**B-but Father said we had to be back by-"**

"It'll be fine Pride, just _fine_. Trust me on this." Lust started to walk away with a whispered "See you later" but stopped suddenly, glancing back with a grin "Actually…" Lust hurried back, almost tripping over her heels. Picking up the flask she began to tug at one of the corks at the top of it

"**Wh-Wh-What are you doing, Lust? Father says I can't live outside my flask, Lust…Lust!" **His sibling ignored his objections, what was she doing?Pride could feel the flask shake as the cork started to come loose; Lust didn't even glance down to see what she was doing to the older homunculus.

"**L-Lust…Stop it!"**

The cork came out with a loud 'pop', and fresh nighttime air rushed into the flask, forcing the old air out, and the distressed homunculus with it. Pride curled his body tight, as he was pulled upwards, not daring to imagine what consequences were to follow

"There we go, and you were so worried" Pride gasped for breath, hardly understanding the fragments of words he managed to hear "Didn't you listen to what Father said? Pride? Hey, Pride" something was jabbing at him, he tried to ignore it but soon realized

Something was jabbing him…and he could _feel_ it…

"**Ehh…? I'm ok…? Lust, is that you?"** His voice had lost the echo it once had, it sounded so clear…

"Yes Pride, you're safe" Lust scooped him up protectively, molding him back into his circular shape, pressing experimentally into his shadows, and smiling at the peculiar texture "…and look, you're not in that flask anymore, I guess Father was right, but, when is he not?" setting him down next to his flask, Pride sank flat into the ground, before popping back up, expanding further than his usual size, no longer confined to the small space he was used to, a wide toothy grin ran its way up his quickly growing body

"Now, if you start feeling…odd…go back in your flask, here's the cork, Father said you can only stay out of it for a little while. Now stay there, I'll be back in the morning" Lust said hastily, dusting off her cloak and running back to the human she supposedly needed to see.

Soon all went silent, but Pride kept smiling, prodding at the ground, picking up- and _holding_- some minute stones from the cracks in the ground, only to drop them again, eyes wide they slipped through his fingers. He looked elsewhere, staring off at the small plants growing in the corners of the alley, as if they were the flowers the human had given to Lust, admiring all the perfect clarity of the outside world. Pride began to shake, and a quiet laugh disturbed the darkness, within moments it had escalated into a laugh that caused the furry thing from before to run past him much faster than it had arrived, and he watched for a brief moment as it fled, gaze constantly wandering, but grin never faltering.

Even if he didn't have a body, he had escaped his flask, however temporary that may have been.

And that was all that mattered.

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Lust! Don't you be being 'punny' with Pride!

I did think of leaving it on a cliffhanger, but I already said last chapter that he could survive outside of his flask so I thought it would be pointless to try and make a cliffhanger out of it.

Y'know, I really wonder how Pride manages to see out of all his eyes at once…perhaps split-screen style? But I've made it so he isn't so experienced at seeing in different places yet…he was too lazy to open/make another eye so he just pulled one to the other side of his body…

Reviews still appreciated, I may not write for a little while, it's gonna rain tomorrow…last episode…of Brotherhood… *sniff*


	10. A Child enticed by Shadow

A/N:

**Will write most of author's note later, it's almost 2AM here…**

Previous reviewers

Larsa7- thanks for the reviews every chapter, it must take you ages ^_^.

Chapter 108: Well, brotherhood solved all the problems about that 'Bradley family poverty' scare, since her hair's back, her wedding ring's drawn in, she doesn't look that much older and New-Pride's clothes fit him properly.

I think Mrs. Bradley (I'm thinking of jumping on the bandwagon and giving her a name of my own…) would have taken in Pride not knowing he had amnesia, since I don't think Ed knew he'd wiped his memory. It still isn't much of a happy ending though…What makes it worse is that this Selim will probably have different interests and the like…it really will be like a different child to her…Not to mention she's what? 60? And the age expectancy rate in 1915… is about 75…he's gonna be an orphan before he's eighteen…and then he won't be able to have children…it's all downhill for new-Pride isn't it…? :(

Let's just hope it is his soul…I mean Marcoh knows his Philosopher's stones…I really don't trust Ed's stone destroying powers (though that still brings up all sorts of questions like why Pride's soul is shaped like his container when it's not his real body, or why he isn't wearing clothes while Ling and Kimblee keep their clothes on as souls…it's too confusing…best not go into it)

Chapter comments-

Homesickness- aww, I never saw it like that…and I wrote it, missing Father after an hour or two… it's a wonder he hardly ever visits the homunculi lair in the series…I guess he didn't like being Father's personal secretary/phone, really, he has to give him Hohenheim's message in episode 42, he has to tell Kimblee to carve that bloody crest in Briggs, and he has to tell him Sloth's finished digging. Pride is such a good long distance phone now…where was I going with this…? Oh well…

Pride's politeness- yes, what a polite little monster… but he always was one to take Father's words to heart…um…Philosopher's stone…nevermind.

And…I'm really bad at Japanese… but I've managed to assume that Pride always talks extremely politely, even around his enemies like Edward.

Bad Example: when he tells Edward in 106 that his way of thinking is human logic he says (copying from the raw) 'Kimi-tachi ningen no shoushuki o watashi-tachi HOMUNKURUSU ni atehamenaide kudasai', which is something like 'Please don't force your human logic onto us homunculi', in itself that doesn't prove anything, except he used 'kudasai', a polite form of asking for something, even at a time when Ed is basically telling him his Father doesn't love him. Now later on, though this is only in the brotherhood episode, when Edward invades Pride, he says 'yamero…yamero…yamete kure!' which is 'stop…stop…_stop!_'. Now 'kure' is a shorter form of 'kudasai' and is more commanding and less polite, I think this is to show how desperate Pride is at that time, though in the manga he says 'watashi no naka ni haittekuruna' which is…I'm not sure it's been a while since I've read the scanlation…but it looks more polite than a simple 'stop' at any rate…I wonder if Bones did it on purpose to show that Pride really has thrown everything away when he's so close to dying…or at least thinking he's going to die …or maybe Studio Bones wanted to keep the ending theme and shortened the last line, who knows. ^_^ Or it might be that he isn't used to using a less polite form, considering how old he is and since he needs to be polite when acting and when talking to Father. Bad Japanese lesson over! But I wanted to show how he talks since the politeness doesn't transition well to English, and since it might play a role in later chapters, but that's for another time.

The way Lust uses 'get'- I'm sorry, I shouldn't use words like that since I know you're only still learning English…even though you're doing really well. It's sort of like…shoo, you usually say it to animals to make them go away, I unwittingly ended up revealing Lust's opinion on humans with the simple word choice *shrug* ^_^

Lust…yeah…Lust doesn't mess around…at least she knows the score…but she's a premade homunculus…

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selimpride- aww thanks, there's never enough Manga Pride stories, good luck with that fic should you write it, I'll be sure to review it, don't let me and my fic discourage you though, Pride doesn't get enough love as it it~ :)

Chapter stuff:

Now in this chapter I have changed perspectives slightly, since I want to include some of proto-Central's people…am I…making…dare I say it… OCs? ! ! ? ! *gasp* no no I would never…well I needed that one guy and…well… they'll only be here for this chapter…or two…and I need to show some of what Lust's been doing…it'll be back to Pride next chapter I promise. The chapter takes place…from the middle of last chapter to just after it…give or take…

By the way, for no reason I've been snooping around the character charts…and by my calculations…Selim, oh excuse me, I mean Pride's container…is only 3 foot 3 inches/ 1 metre tall, I guess now I can see why some people think he's six years old…then again anime1 Selim's that tall too…and he really _is_ ten…

Anyway on with the fic!

Arakawa-sensei owns…you know the drill…

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Ten: a Child enticed by Shadow**

The darkest of blues descended upon the bustling town, erasing the previous crimson pigment entirely, instructing the townsfolk below that it was time for them to pack away their stalls and businesses and try again the next day. And a young boy skipped happily among them, ignorant to the annoyed glances and the occasional call of 'watch it you little wretch' he received as he darted through the small gaps underneath the frames dotted about the marketplace; they didn't scold him often, assuming him to be much younger than he really was. Luna said that one day he'd be taller, taller than everyone else in town in fact, Father had been tall too, but he wouldn't know about such things, he'd never seen him, and everyone was tall to him anyway. Even so, he appreciated the reassurance, but such carefree times were a rare occurrence these days, ever since Luna had to start working more and hardly ever had time for him- what kind of work was beyond him, but Luna hated it more than anything else in the world it seemed. The boy wasn't quite sure what had ruined their usually stable source of income, but knew that it was necessary, and he was capable of looking after himself.

Some of the few adults that recognized him didn't say anything to him, only returning his wide smile, delighted that he had gone back to his usual self; he was quite the living example that children looked much better with smiles on their faces.

He wasn't tall, evident by the constant and convenient wrong assumptions about his age, a torn and tattered dress barely concealing his stick-like legs, far too large for his frail body– his sister's hand-me-downs of course, far too worn for her to work in at any rate. It was a wonder how he had the energy to run around like he did now, or how those legs manage to hold up the rest of him.

The surprisingly sprightly child continued onwards, his tiny hands fisted tightly as he mused about the cause of his burst of energy and excitement, and his smile widened at the very thought.

He'd seen Luna again.

After what seemed like forever, he'd managed to catch her, despite the rule that he shouldn't disturb her while she was working. Yet strangely, she didn't mind as he rushed up to meet her, she simply smiled, ruffling his hair and giving him a few cen, a clear indication that she was making money again, but he assumed as much when he saw the peculiar things she was wearing on her hands- shiny and black, poking out from beneath her new cloak. With that she had instructed him to buy 'something nice' and sent him on his way with a mischievous wink. And he was about to do just that, moving as fast as his bare feet would carry him, hoping that the woman who sold the fruit hadn't packed away yet.

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"Now what can I do for you?" He'd got her, latching onto her sleeve tight, remembering to let go for the sake of being polite "Is your sister with you or…?" Iris added with a smirk, the child didn't see what was so funny, but knew better than to question an adult.

"N-no…but I'd like an apple please" He held out the coin, hoping it would be enough, Iris' prices changed whenever her Father thought she wasn't making enough money, especially in the autumn when fruit didn't grow.

"Who'd you steal this off? Y'know I really expected better from you…Luna isn't making you pickpocket is she? The lousy little-"

"I didn't steal it, Luna gave it to me, I found her working" Iris couldn't resist a laugh

"Oh really? _Good for_ _her_, wonder what poor excuse for a man she's been begging again for…oh you're still here, sorry, I completely…_here_, I'll give you the change the next time I see you" Iris took the coin while she picked any apple from her cart and threw it to him, waving as she quickly hurried off, it was getting late after all.

The boy smiled, biting into the apple messily, sending juice pouring out the sides of his mouth, and making a bit of the scarlet skin stick to his lip. Iris was nice when she wanted to be, though very sarcastic at the same time, with a terrible sense of humour that he couldn't understand and less than positive opinions on the 'urchins' that roamed the streets- excluding him of course (or so he hoped). She was a year younger than Luna, the daughter of the farmer that lived on the outskirts of town, but she already had a child of her own, the boy had caught sight of a pale baby peeking out from underneath her dress, strapped to her back, he frowned a bit, Iris must have thought he was ignoring it, taking another bite of the apple he promised himself to ask about it the next time he saw her. Even if she was pleasant with him, the boy knew that she was just particularly fond of him, she and Luna, however, was a different story entirely, they had never seen eye to eye, Iris didn't like Luna's 'disgusting line of employment', and Luna didn't like Iris' easy way of life, 'with her 'daddy' just spoiling her rotten while she sits and rides around on that carriage of hers…'. Despite what Luna said, her brother knew that she despised Iris' golden hair most of all, Luna often wished she could sell her hair, wigs were apparently popular now and people wanted them made of real hair, she said that if she cut it all off she'd get enough money to keep them fed for at least three years, but no one wanted black hair, everyone wanted hair like that 'sage of the east' that had supposedly founded the country some hundred years ago, that was what Luna hated about Iris. But, hard as he tried, he couldn't share that hate for the golden haired woman, since she had looked after him somewhat when Luna went away to _work extra extra hard and forgot to come back_, giving him the occasional fruit free of charge during the plentiful summer months, it wasn't his place to think badly of someone who had given him food. Either way, the boy usually left the girls to fight by themselves, and while the promise of more cenz than he dared to imagine was awfully tempting, he liked his sister's hair, he didn't want her to cut it all off just for his sake, so long and shiny and 'poofy', it was a wonder someone _didn't_ want it, but people were weird like that, he was used to it. He smiled as he recalled fondly the times he used to lean on it for a pillow while Luna held him tight to her chest when he had a nightmare, but that was a long, long time ago. A quick glance at the sky told him he had better find a place to sleep until tomorrow, and he, like Iris a few minutes before, headed to whatever place he was going to call 'home'.

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The boy liked horses, they were tall and strong and dependable and self confident and_ proud_, everything he wanted to be when he grew up, and everything he wasn't at the present. But he liked them because they were friendly, Iris had one, an unbelievably expensive white one she called Lily, and let him pet it every once in a while, but never ride it of course, though he wasn't sure he wanted to anyway.

The child would have never had thought that something terrible could happen because of a horse…

He'd found the perfect place to sleep, in the alley across the street, even if he'd only seen it due to the dimly lit lamp hanging outside one of the houses, that didn't matter, he'd still managed to find it. He pulled the freshly eaten apple core out of his pocket, neatly placing it in a corner of the street for the mice. He turned his attention back to finding his place to sleep for the night, scurrying over the path and stopping just outside the entrance, he smiled to himself, but tensed up when he heard the quiet clang of metal against stone. He patted his sides, and sighed, shaking his head and turning back around.

He'd dropped his money- there in the middle of the road, were the coins Luna had given to him, had entrusted him with, if he didn't pick them up then some other 'urchin' was going to take them for himself, probably an older, taller urchin, and he couldn't have that.

With another sigh he sat down and began to crawl towards the-coins-that-Luna-had-given-to-him, he thought he heard a faint whinny and the clopping of hooves against the stone floor, and for a moment wondered if it was Iris' horse, but he didn't turn his head towards to noise, ignoring it, far more focused on trying to scoop up whatever coins he could and shoving them into the shallow pockets of Luna's dress. The sound of hooves got louder, but he didn't move an inch, still too far away for him to fully notice.

Louder

Louder

_Louder_

He was on the ground, his arms barely holding him up, dragging along the floor, staining it red, something pushing him down, something heavy and sharp, something—

A hollow neigh echoed in his head

Something cracked inside his chest, and his whole body trembled, arms quivering violently as he somehow managed to stay up. The weight on him lifted, and he watched through blurred vision some large brown animal gallop away. The child wearily raised his head, clearly not thinking straight, it was quickly corrected as a new pain exploded in the back of his head and he was forced forward, his nose colliding first, bending it into a painful new position, once again sending blood spurting across the path, his head tilted, cheek scraping hard along the ground, leaving behind another line of red– the carriage wheel had hit him, not that he cared. The boy gasped, clutching feebly at the back of his head, unable to see, unable to register anything outside the pain and the mocking sound of the carriage carrying on, perfectly _fine_. No one checked to see if he was ok, and as he dragged himself underneath the dim street lamp, collapsing back into a heap, trying to curl up into a ball, he realized that no one was coming to help him either.

"Luna…h-he…e…lp…" that was all he could muster, before the pain dulled and everything went dark, he didn't care either way, he'd found a place to sleep, like he was supposed to, and this _was_ the perfect place to stay the night.

It was in the quieter part of town.

It was sheltered somewhat.

No one would ask him to leave…

…and no one would care about what became of him.

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The child awoke with a quiet groan, lifting himself onto his knees with little difficultly, seemingly unaware of any injuries outside of a peculiar throbbing in the back of his head. But then the pain returned, and it all came back. After a few minutes of enduring and gritting his teeth the pain went away somewhat, and he assumed that he had simply escaped with a bloody nose, a headache and cuts on his hands and legs, which wasn't _that _bad.

Something glittered nearby, and it caught the child's interest, he leaned forward, squinting, trying to make out its shape through the darkness.

It was a flask. A flask made of _glass_.

The boy smiled, absentmindedly wiping the blood from his nose. Who would leave such a precious thing in a place like this? The boy didn't know, but at the same time didn't really care, too busy thinking of the endless possibilities this stroke of luck would bring. He could sell it, those 'scientists' always paid good money for 'glassware', with that much money he could…he could buy food, then Luna wouldn't have to work so much, then she could spend more time with him, she could play with him and ruffle his hair like she used to, and she'd say that he'd saved the family just like she said he would. Everything could go back to normal, or perhaps even better than whatever sense of normal he'd ever known, everything was possible if he took the clear round miracle that shone but a few feet away, glimmering, tempting him to crawl forward, to reach out and take it before anyone saw him and snatched it away.

But of course, as Luna had always told him, simply taking it was wrong; it wasn't like it was _his_ to take in the first place.

It wasn't the most noble of things to do, but the child saw it as justified, Luna would surely understand that it was one of those 'necessary evils', if it fixed all their problems then… and it if someone had left it there...

The boy nodded to himself, reasoning it to be something like that 'fate' Luna often went on about when times got beyond what her optimism could tolerate, back before she went away to work extra hard and forgot to come back, he was meant to find this, to make their lives better, the person who used to own it obviously didn't need it anymore, that much was certain- in his eyes at least.

A steady stream of warmth trickled down from the side of his cheek, dripping onto his clothes-_ her_ clothes- forming little red splotches over them- another injury, he paid it no mind, it would stop eventually, and it was nothing he couldn't brush off, just like he had everything else inconvenient in his life, not to mention he had more important things to attend to. Stretching forward he gripped the flask that would solve everything tight between his fingers. The boy yelped, biting onto his lip, bringing the flask close to his chest, careful not to drop it as a bitter cold continued to seep into the cuts on his palms. A few moments passed, and the pain started to fade, the cold beginning to soothe it after a while.

The oblivious injured child sighed to himself, trying to retain his smile as his spindly legs began to ache beneath him and droplets of water formed in the corners of his eyes. He ignored it, and instead focused on the flask, it needed to be perfect for it to make enough money to fix things. Resisting a wince, he lifted one of his hands from the flask, a red stain smeared all over the side where it had been.

Besides the streaks on the sides (which he could easily wash off in the canal in the centre of town) the flask was flawless, smooth and clear, without so much as a scratch, as if it had just been made.

_Or had never left the place it had been previously._

The boy shook his head, forcing away the minute pang of guilt, it was his now, whoever had left it behind didn't want it anymore, so he, who had found it, deserved to keep it. Like the strange 'logic' those older boys insisted on using at any given moment- that he had simply 'thrown away' his shoes when they tripped him that day, and had as quickly ran off with them, the threat of a broken nose and who knows what else if he dared to follow them lingering long after they had disappeared. But of course, he was above their flawed 'logic', someone had _actually_ abandoned this flask, and with that action had opened up a world of opportunities for him, and in turn the flask itself would help some scientist or doctor hold something important, but that was none of his concern- he didn't care much for prying- outside the odd innocent eavesdrop, which was perfectly fine.

Content with himself and his new possession, the boy yawned as he started to smooth out his tattered clothes, preparing to go to sleep, ignoring the dull ache that awoke inside his chest whenever breathed, his dirty green eyes sparkling for the first time since he didn't know when. Tomorrow, tomorrow he was going to fix everything, he could find Luna, he could sell the small blessing in his hands and everything would be-

His eye caught sight of something, something that made his heart sink deep into his stomach, and made the tears of joy he didn't even remember crying change at once into the complete opposite.

One of the corks was missing- standing out clearly against the otherwise symmetrical object. Surely no self-respecting (or rich) person would buy it now, in such a state- what could he possibly do now? The boy thought that, at the very revelation of what this new issue meant, he heard his entire dream shatter in that one instant. He tried to breathe softly, to calm himself down, but he couldn't breathe through his blood filled nose, and instead opted to stop breathing all together- he wouldn't cry, he'd never…he was too old for it… he promised he'd be strong while she was away…

The boy couldn't suppress the lump that had built up in his throat any longer, the temptation to cry just to make himself feel better and burning in his lungs from denying himself air were too powerful for someone like him to decline, and he sobbed into the flask, causing sharp objections to erupt somewhere inside his ribs. The sudden pain in his chest only succeeded in forcing more laboured cries to pass his lips. He ignored it the best he could, uncaring as his tears and sobs heighted the feeling until he had long since forgotten everything else. He sat there, alone, shivering as the wind whipped around him, too far into his self-induced despair to notice anything anymore- he didn't notice the blood that continued to pour from his nose and cheek, and now his mouth, onto the flask he once so coveted, or over his sister's clothes, once so precious to the boy.

He didn't even notice the curious gaze of a shadowed mess that rested on him a few feet away, tiny clawed hands clutching onto a cork protectively, as if it was important to it as the child considered it, looking suspended as it blended in with the surrounding darkness. The creature's wide mouth- filled with countless flawless white teeth that shined through the dark- hung open, tilted at the corners, confused, its reddish-pink eyes large and slanting upwards, creating the illusion of a floating frown. It inched forward with a peculiar sound, failing to attract the boy's attention- if that was its intention at all. It suddenly gasped, dropping the cork, which bounced away almost instantly, it wrung its hands together nervously, only able to watch, helpless, as the cork rolled towards the inconsolable child, colliding with his grazed knee with an inaudible tap- but the child felt it.

The boy wiped at his eyes, smearing blood and remnants of tears about his face, his frail body still shaking from the cold and his slowing sobs. He sighed, for some strange reason feeling much better, his cuts didn't sting anymore, and he couldn't feel the usual autumn breeze. But that was beside the point, he reasoned, something had disturbed him. With another oddly relaxed yawn, the boy forced himself to blink lest he fall asleep, and through drooping eyes he sighed.

And looked up.

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A/N: We ALL know where this is going…but that's what I get writing pre-series ^_^ can't get any suspense in at all…

Awww…I've started to warm up to this boy with no name, and he seems so happy (then sad…and happy again… then sad…then happy again…bad mood whiplash *shot* …TV tropes!) near the end of the chapter…ah…the poor pathetic delusions of a dying child…thinking scientists actually had money in 1680… :( what do I think I'm doing writing such depressing stuff…I should write Victorian fiction…too bad I was born 150 years late…but it makes you wonder why on Earth I see Central in **1680 **as Victorian style anyway…weird… 0_0'

Why did I pick the name Luna you ask…? Well it means moon…and Lust's fake name is Solaris, which means su- *Shot* yeah yeah I know I'm a right cheat.

Reviews still adored~!


	11. The Little Human that made Philosopher's

A/N

To previous reviewers:

Larsa7-

I'm not happy either about Mrs. Bradley's lack of name, but at least it lets make up my own name…I'll probably use it in the interlude chapter I'm having soon…what? Oh ok I'll tell you it now…it's gonna be Lenore, going along with the other Pride fan fiction writer's 'L' thing (though it wasn't intentional) Moofy fan's name for her being Larissa and Aerith-Heartilly13's name for her being Leona. Lenore comes from Helena and means light, which given the effect she has on the shadowy homunculus…_yeah_…plus it reminds me of Eleanor, which I think gives that first lady vibe…like Eleanor Roosevelt…I didn't know I knew American history…strange…Besides I like the name, think it's from reading The Raven…

You've been studying for 11 years? I could never learn for that long, I'd give up after about six months :( Good luck with it you're doing great

I know what you mean about the tiny people thing, I assumed he was 10 as well (I also thought he was a girl for a moment thanks to the English dub of the first series but I digress ^_^), I'm an inch shorter than Edward…_Edward_…I guess 4' 10' is worse for a boy though.

Haa…Luna's line of work…what do I think I'm doing?…implying things no 15 year old should be implying…at least we won't be seeing her again…well _really_, we never saw her anyway since the boy just mistook Lust for her before…

The 'children look better when they smile' thing's from Baccano, when one of the characters tells an immortal ten year old that if he frowns too much people won't like it since they'll think he's only ten, though he's about 300 years old, Pride reminds me a bit of Czeslaw somehow and I liked the line *shame for stealing*

The horse carriage… Y'know I had to write that part last (with the last part first and the first part second etc… ) since I knew I wouldn't be able to write him being happy right after_ that, _and I didn't want to write it full-stop so I just wrote around it…If it makes you feel any better it was an accident, since I couldn't fit a part in where it turned out something scared the horse :( Still the driver could have stopped. Little no-name (that's his name now) suffers too much…awww *reminds self that it's needed for the plot* Wish I didn't make him so adorable…

Yes my little 'boy with no name' came out really adorable…I don't have a clue what I did, but I've become too attached to him…and then I go and get him run over (you know…the animal represented by Pride is a horse…but it was more convenience since horse carriages were popular back then)…and I made him cry…but I did actually need that part, so he could be distracted and to make it clear that he'd broken/cracked one/a few of his ribs…and now Pride's appeared…poor little guy…what am I doing to you…?

Awww…internalized…I don't know why but the way you phrased it made it sound really cute… internalized the feelings of his container…never before has taking over someone's body seemed so…sweet? *laughs* I'll be off thinking if that theory of yours is true, since I think that in later chapters I've accidentally made them share the same habit (probably because they look almost the same).

Don't worry about weird theories, I make them up all the time *glances at chapter 3's groundless drabbles*, and if you keep thinking randomly eventually you'll get something that sounds at least half right :D Plus if nothing else they're interesting.

Thanks for the review as always ^_^

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I'm late again…But I can explain! Wait, no I can't…I just didn't want to …write…this…part…! Wow do I feel terrible… It's late here so I'll just…leave this…here and…write the rest of the author's note later… *baaawww*

I think I screwed up on the last part though, hope the beginning's not too confusing, just go along with my weird time changes ^_^.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Eleven: the Little Human that made Philosopher's Stones**

"Luna…You're back…?" A small gasp escaped the child, he couldn't believe it, having found the lost cork and now…

He didn't move as she approached, as she examined his hands and stroked lovingly at his cheek, at first he almost cried out, but it didn't sting anymore, not even when she experimentally pressed her finger into the large gash, she would never do anything to hurt him, she was just concerned- that was all. She let her hand rest softly against his face, inching closer toward him, kneeling down; he crawled forward on his knees, uncaring as they scraped along the floor, forming new scratches over the old ones he was hardly aware of. She pulled him close, and he did nothing to stop her.

Luna didn't speak a word, or if she did the words failed to reach his ears, he didn't worry about it, knowing that they could talk tomorrow, they had all the time in the world, they could sell the flask, and she wouldn't need to work ever again- nothing mattered, nothing at all mattered anymore.

The boy continued to lean against her, unconsciously twirling a wispy strand of her hair between his fingers, while his other hand held tight onto hers. He sighed as her hand trailed up to pat at his head, just like she used to, perhaps she knew what he'd done, and was praising him for it. His eyelids started to sag, and he yawned, but his chest didn't hurt when he did, instead he felt warm all over, warm as if near a fire- maybe it was Luna, maybe it was the newfound feeling of joy, he adored it all the same.

He forced himself to look up, into Luna's large eyes, those deep eyes that shined through the darkness, ones of that peculiar colour, that were once the same as his own, but not anymore. He smiled a wide smile, wider than he ever had in his life, trying to ignore the tug of something odd inside, in his hands and arms and legs and in his cheek. He thought he saw her return the smile, and he thought he heard her start singing the only real lullaby she knew- the one that mother used to sing, but he wouldn't know of such things, he'd never met her. Another quiet sigh pushed past his lips as he unknowingly slipped deeper into a rather welcoming sleep, snuggling closer to his sister, using her hair as a pillow, just like before- but that was a long, long time ago, and maybe he _was_ too old for it now, but he didn't care, he'd got her back now, and everything would be fine.

He couldn't see anymore, he didn't recall closing his eyes, maybe he hadn't and it was just too dark now, it was getting late, and he might have been unconscious for a while after being hit by that cart, but he didn't want to think about _that_… he felt himself slide lower, unable to hold himself up, his whole body numbing while Luna's fingers settled into a soothing rhythm as they threaded themselves in his unkempt hair, encouraging him to relax and easing him into a surprisingly peaceful sleep he didn't dare try to escape from, not that he wanted to in the slightest.

The sound started to fade from his darkened world, Luna's lullaby sounding ever so slightly distorted; he no longer understood what she was saying, and unable to remember the words, but even if he did, his voice was unwilling to let him even whisper. He tried to ignore it, clinging tighter to his sister's body, but something seemed wrong, Luna's hand and hair feeling like nothing but faded shadows of what they were supposed to be now, twisting drowsily in his grasp, stroking at the long forgotten cuts in his palms. He forced himself closer, and imagined otherwise, he imagined her warmth and her hair and her voice and her…

He couldn't remember anything else.

A tear leaked out from his eye, then another, and another, but they never made it past his cheeks, pooling oddly just beneath his eyes, blocked by something he couldn't feel, he didn't know what it was, and didn't care to find out.

And then they were gone, along with everything else.

But he still had _her_, whether she was imagined or not didn't matter, even if he couldn't feel or see or smell anything anymore, he _knew_ she was there, somehow, and that was all that mattered.

When he was with her he didn't need anything else.

Nothing else mattered.

_Not anymore._

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The world stayed silent, observing helpless as the child's broken form shuddered for a final time, a pitifully weak smile still clinging to his innocent but weathered features, as if he were caught up in some fruitless dream of a better life, ready to awake the next day and try to make it a reality, but of course, he would never awaken from that dream, if it were a dream at all. How tragic those dying delusions were, ones that would only remain as a naïve mistake on the part of an injured urchin so close to death, at such a young age it was no wonder that was all they were, but perhaps it was better that way, evident in the true meaning of that quickly fading smile that distracted from his hollow bloodied cheeks, that one such as he experienced a fleeting happiness in those few final moments, not that anyone would ever know of it.

The shadow surrounding him quivered too, moving of its own accord, beginning to dissolve as quick flashes of scarlet dared to disrupt the darkness, gently lowering the boy onto his stomach. Soon it was gone, and the alley returned to the expected murky blackness. A few moments passed, a lone mouse ventured out to the dead or dying child, such an animal was used to corpses by now, and there was nothing particularly extraordinary about this one. It quickly darted through the shallow pools of crimson, painting the tips of its paws red, sniffing around for any scraps of something it could eat.

The curious rodent hopped onto the boy's head, burrowing through his matted hair with its tiny claws, seeds, bread crumbs, _fleas, lice_, there had to be something hidden in there it could take for itself. Before it descended to search his pockets another spasm ripped through the child's body, as if to spite the creature's assumptions, though merely just a nervous impulse…of course…

Whatever the cause, the creature saw nothing of logic, and hurried away, splashing messily through the puddles as it took the movement as a sign that the child was still alive- which was never a good thing- in its eyes at least.

A few seconds passed and the violent shiver subsided, and all was still around the child, the world returned to its deathly silence once again.

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**About half an hour earlier…**

Pride sighed aimlessly to himself, the cork from his flask tight in his hand, he had long since stopped clawing at the floor and staring at everything in sight, he reasoned that the place he was in now was boring, and that the world would be more interesting elsewhere, and promised himself that he would ask Lust to take him to those 'more interesting' places the next time they visited town, but he'd need to wait for her to actually get back here and take him home before he could even consider such things.

He thought about what had happened over the last few 'hours' as Lust called them, no 'blue' remained in the sky anymore, so some time must have passed, some fast moving animal passed by a while ago, crashing into something before carrying on, seemingly unscathed, at least that was what he had heard from his place in the alley, and he decided against going to inspect the event, he wasn't too interested in human affairs, they were none of his concern after all.

Pride twirled the cork around, he wasn't sure why he kept it with him, it reminded him of his flask, the thing he had been free from for but a few hours, yet he still held onto something that was a part of it, as if it let him imagine he was closer to it than he was now. Being a part of the flask it also reminded him of home, the place he had lived in for over ninety years, the place where Father was, and where he hoped to return to as soon as possible. He convinced himself that he held onto it so he didn't lose it, since he needed it to close his flask up when he returned to it, remembering Lust's warning about staying out too long.

Pride forced a sigh, but that quickly changed into a yawn, and then a weak toothy grin, he was tired anyway, he might as well sleep in his flask, and wait for Lust to come back in the morning. Once again clutching the cork between his fingers, Pride inched towards the alley's opening, back to where he'd left his flask when he went exploring, fortunately the alleyway ended in a particularly out of place wall, so he couldn't get lost.

Pride widened one of his eyes when he saw a small figure blocking the weak light of the lamp, and as he approached his weak smile almost faded completely, the figure almost didn't look like a human at all, but Pride couldn't determine it as anything else, he discreetly tried to get a better look at this particularly tiny 'human', not wanting it to see him and run away as the animal from before had.

The decidedly named 'Little Human' was, as the name implied, much smaller than any human Pride had seen before, clothed in rags much bigger than it. Its twig-like fingers curled around something he couldn't distinguish, a dark blob of hair the same colour as Lust's hung over most of its face, the rest of it stopping just above its thin, shaking shoulders, its scrawny body rattling along with them. It was currently breathing oddly, every few moments emitting a high pitched whimper and clutching at it something inside itself as it gasped sharply, shivering from head to toe. Pride frowned, wondering how such a strange human lived among the others if it couldn't talk. Pride's curiosity got the better of him, and he squinted at the object the Little Human was holding, after a moment or two Pride understood, and gasped, dropping the cork.

The human was holding a flask_, his flask_.

The cork rolled along the floor, stopping conveniently near the human's knees. Pride saw it tilt its head towards it, picking it up with another gasp, and pushing it into the hole where it had once been, preventing Pride from getting inside, but Pride didn't think about that, wanting nothing more than to rip _his_ flask from the _human's_ hands and hide until Lust came back, but froze when the human suddenly looked up, hoping that he was camouflaged well enough against the darkness to not be seen. The human stared into his eyes, and he stared back, as though looking away would make it notice and dash away without a second thought, his flask with it. It certainly had strange eyes, a dark glazed look in them, like the men Lust talked to, but there was something different about them, there seemed to be something wrong with them, and the wide smile he was receiving made Pride assume that the human wasn't seeing _him_ as it gazed upwards. Something trickled down the human's cheek, and Pride quickly broke eye contact, bringing a hand up to wipe at the 'something'. He studied it, rubbing it between his fingers.

It was red, and thick, and...

"**A Philosopher's stone…" **Pride glared curiously at the creature, it was surely a human, but why did it have Philosopher's stones inside it? The homunculus didn't understand, but grinned as a strange but intriguing idea entered his head, perhaps he could…

"**N-No, Philosopher's stones are important, Father said so, you…you need to keep them inside you. Here…let me…"** Pride pressed one of his shadows into the open cut on the human's cheek, and it slipped inside without much difficultly, getting lodged there, the Philosopher's stones stopped flowing from the gash, and Pride smiled. The little human didn't seem to mind, still smiling, eyes still wide and unseeing. Pride continued to look over it, prepared to repair anymore 'leaks' in the human, it would clearly be of some use to Father if it produced Philosopher's stones all by itself, but if it lost too much perhaps it would not make any more, there was already a small puddle around it, Pride couldn't let it lose any more, he wouldn't. More of the red liquid streamed from its nose, another two of Pride's shadows quickly remedied it.

"**There we go! All better, now we just need to…" **Pride tried to pull his shadows out, but only succeeded in pushing them in further, and when he checked he could see thin black lines running over its face, pulsing in time with its quiet whimpering, further spreading as they did, Pride disregarded it, and decided he had better just go to sleep and wait until tomorrow. Determined, Pride tried to pry his little human's hands from his flask. The tips of its fingers were swollen and red, it couldn't seem to move them, it wincing a little as they twitched uselessly, Pride's shadows molded around its hands instead so as to push them apart, entering the small cuts in its palms as well, and as he picked it up and pulled it forward, he wrapped it up in the rest of his shadows, forcing them into the thin, almost unnoticeable scratches running up its legs. The little human curled itself up, resting the flask on his lap, abandoning it without a second thought, and instead leaned contently against Pride's shadows, a sigh passing its lips.

"Luna…" It murmured, shivering slightly as it looked up again, smiling weakly. Pride thought it would be uncomfortable with the shadow poking out of its face and in its nose, yet still it smiled "_Luna…_" Pride didn't know what the word meant, and only managed to assume that it was talking about Lust. A strange clear liquid began to leak from its eyes, only two or three droplets, but Pride stopped them, folding another pair of shadows over the tops of its cheeks ever so slightly, it didn't seem to notice. "Lun…a…Lu…L-L-Lu…" its voice trailed off, and it slowly closed its eyes, sighing deeply, as if all the air in its body was leaving it, it shivered for a moment, before slumping against the homunculus, feeling much heavier than before, Pride didn't move, not wanting to disturb it while it was sleeping. He couldn't reach his flask between the little human's legs with said 'Little Human' leaning on him, at least not without waking it, he sighed, deciding that he might as well go to sleep too, he could always explain everything to Lust tomorrow. Pride stared down with a smile, patting at its head like Lust did with his flask.

"**Goodnight…Little Human…" **It only shuddered in response, but Pride didn't mind, yawning as he started to quickly drift off, not noticing the fact that his 'Little Human' wasn't breathing, or the fact that he couldn't survive outside his flask, he even failed to notice the crimson sparks coming from his own body as his eyes closed and he quietly fell asleep.

_Father would be so proud of him._

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*Shaaaammmeee* Yes… *Flamesheild up* …I feel really really bad too… but…I… I had to do it… and it's not like I hadn't become attached to him either…and…there are worse ways to go…at least he was happy *shot*… :( *more shame*

Pride thinks the boy's blood is Philosopher's stones…naïve little thing he is …Father will need to clear that up for him or else he'll think any injured human is a magical philosopher's stone making machine.


	12. Displaced Pride

A/N:

Sorry for such the long wait guys; I was on holiday…which magically sucked out all my creativity…

The bad chapter name comes from the fact that I'm coming to the end of my pre-planned…parts of this fic, since it planned to end when Pride gets his container (which in the plan is named chapter eight) which would be next chapter (plan-wise) with only a short epilogue following it. But I keep getting these random ideas to expand it and I can't really bring myself to end it since I don't want the ideas go to waste, but since I'm not thinking it through I need to keep changing them since they conflict with the births of the other homunculi and whatnot. So…I'm gonna ask you, my loyal readers…where exactly do you want me to end this fic, as in, what part of Pride's life, since I was going to end it when he got his container, then I wanted to see his reactions to the other homunculi, then I wanted to see him and the others play matchmaker with Wrath, then the incident with the car… then I wanted to see his reaction to Lust's death…

See where I'm going with this?

The problem is if I go that far I'll need to fill in all the space in between…

So, being the lazy one I am I'll let you guys suggest scenarios are simply suggest which would be the best place to end it, and if not I'll just keep going till I run out of ideas or reach the present day Pride ^_^

Anyway, reviewer messages!

Larsa7- thanks like always, but I'd best get on with the reply.

Yes, Mrs. Bradley is awesome, I think that's why I like chapter 2 so much (well, chapter 10's usurped it now as my favourite but…I'm sure the interlude chapter will fix that soon enough ^_^)

10 years…it's times like this I appreciate being born English…that's really selfish of me isn't it? Since everyone else needs to try so hard to learn our complicated awkward language…

Yeah, I really like Baccano, only 13 episodes with 3 OVA's, I think they only use little kids when really bad things happen because they know it'll make us pity them and go 'awww', maternal instincts, gotta protect the little ones! …sorry about that…kinda just ^_^''

I hate English dubs too, since I watched all of brotherhood subbed I can't really stand the dub voices now (specially Pride's *shudder*, but my opinions on that are mentioned in chapter 3…though episode 24 was the icing on the cake for badness, it was more the script as well…adding lines to match the lipflap…). Though I prefer Baccano's English dub since it's set in New York, and Japanese can't really…make New York accents *feels like a hypocrite now*

It wasn't really writing forbidden…it was simply implying a few things…at least I didn't go with my original idea of the boy with no name (anyone care to think of one for the time being, I don't feel like spoiling the name I've got for him yet…oh great he's like Scar now) actually being Luna's son instead of her brother (though he still would have thought she was his sister)

I don't really like writing in the wrong order, since I have to copy the style of the parts that come after it.

*Sniff* I know, I know, such happiness, thank god his hallucinations are nice ones…

Hm? No, no Lust didn't do anything to him, Pride did…but he didn't' feel it…I think, he was basically dying anyway, hence the hallucinations *morbid*, since he had… *thinks* , cracked or broken ribs, a broken nose, presumably a fractured skull from the carriage wheel , a sliced open cheek and countless cuts over him, plus he was coughing up blood… I'm no doctor but… not to mention he stayed out in the cold for a few hours with nothing but a thin cloak on…

It's very good he's confused, I probably wouldn't be able to write it if he understood…though if Pride used his body he most likely used his soul for his Philosopher's stone…he won't be seeing that dear sister of his for a while…how terrible I am… *pats little no name's head*

I like mice too! I always wanted one as a pet…ohwait it's supposed to be a bad thing…maybe I should change it to a rat…but I don't want a rat crawling over no name…

Pride yawning…I think it'd be scarier since you probably would think he was just opening his mouth to eat you…

Pride's so nice here isn't he? But it's more of a 'oh look at this human, he's weird, I'll take him to Father and then he'll be so proud' kind of thing instead of a 'oh he looks hurt let's help him!' kind of thing. But caring is caring I guess…

I was actually worried for a moment there when you said 'too cutely written' since 'too' is usually a bad thing, but I assume it was a good thing, right, as in 'so cutely written' instead *confused* ^_^'

Don't worry, without Pride it'd be really boring, not to mention un-canon. I'm sure Pride can take over the body of people who are alive; at least, he seemed to be doing an ok job with Edward, till Kimblee showed up anyway…

baconinthesoap64: Thanks for the review, I'm happy you've stuck around despite my delays, yep, I feel bad for killing off my adorable little no name'd boy…but I needed to…

For everyone else, Chapter 11 is due for a rewrite… woah woah *shields self*, just the last part! I'm gonna change Pride's motivation for looking after my boy with no name that's all!

Anyway on with the fic! Sorry for the short chapter as well

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Twelve: Displaced Pride**

**September 15****th**** 1680**

Lust yawned rather loudly to herself as the sun began to rise over the town; she paid it no attention, her gaze fixated on the floor, a shadow of what may have been interpreted as anxiety crossing her pale features for a moment. Those eyes, so clear, so focused, so _sincere…_

It didn't make any sense, none whatsoever.

"What a strange human, calling me 'Luna' like that…I'll need to keep an eye on him…" She murmured, pulling at the flower he'd put in her hair that night, it seemed that dinner was all what the peculiar human desired, seemingly content with merely a woman's company and nothing beyond that, though he had asked that they meet again. She had had no choice other than to politely agree with a weak smile as she left, his intriguing nature rendering her incapable of killing him, the why of it all escaped her. The petals came loose, falling over the path, she didn't notice, too busy pushing the thoughts of that _human_ out of her mind and thinking about more important things- She needed to pick Pride up and take him back to Father, she frowned a bit at the thought that she had failed to keep Pride content by bringing him a body to use, but he was just _so_ stubborn, even when she dared to try bringing him a _woman_ (something which no one would be finding out about any time soon) he made some excuse…

'_You brought a long haired human Lust? But…I don't want to have a body that's exactly the same as yours…could you…bring me another one please…?'_

She smiled, knowing that Father would be able to make Pride the body he wanted, Father knew what he was doing, of course he did, everything would be fine once they got home.

A large spot of blood caught Lust's eye, she leaned in, following the brownish spatter until finding a messy stain in the middle of the road, and she noticed small hand-like shapes leading from it into a nearby alley.

Her brow furrowed, wondering what could have happened while she had been away to cause this, it certainly wasn't caused by her, and it wasn't here when she left. Her curiosity got the better of her, she craned her neck around the corner, and she almost frowned at the sight. It was a child, lying down, motionless on the ground, puddles of blood surrounding it. Lust knew there was no point in calling our, or checking for a pulse, the boy was dead, there was no doubt about that, with how much blood he'd lost…

_Poor thing…_

She raised her eyebrow; covering her mouth and looking around, did she dare imply that she cared for a _human_?; she shook her head, convincing herself that she was just curious as to who would dare to cut the life of a _child_ short, even _she_ wouldn't go that far. Lust squatted beside his broken body, picking him up by the neck of his sorry excuse of a cloak, she recognized him, and her frown unconsciously returned. It was the boy that she often saw about the town, back when she wore her hair up with her usual attire she saw him staring at her, eyes longing, as if briefly living a distant memory whenever he caught sight of her. Yet the day before, during her hunt for a body for Pride, he smiled at her, clinging tight to her cloak, she didn't understand why he wrapped his arms so lovingly around her, or why he muttered strange things about being so happy to see her again, even when he often saw her in her normal clothes, she had faked a smile and given him a few cenz her 'friends' had given her just to get rid of him, he had been ruining her chances of deceiving the human. It perplexed her how the child had gone from such happiness to the state he was in now in but a few hours. She continued to observe silently, watching the blood spill out of his mouth and nose, she thought it strange, wondering why it hadn't dried up yet, instead dripping down his arms and over the round glass he was holding loosely.

_Round glass…_

Lust looked down, prying the object from his fingers will little difficulty. She hesitated, again wondering why his body hadn't stiffened up like the other corpses she'd seen. Though she didn't understand she didn't bother to question it, raising the glass up to her face, inspecting it despite the crimson that coated almost all of it in one way or another. She gasped, dropping the child instantly, and he fell limp back into the pool of his own blood with a quiet splash.

It was Pride's flask,

and it was _empty_.

Lust shook from head to toe, her eyes wide and darting about, looking for any sign of the small homunculus, her _sibling_, he couldn't survive outside his flask for so long, and he wouldn't let any _human_ take it. She thought the worst, and instead ran her hands through the puddles, staining them red, desperately searching for the bloodied corpse of a minute baby; he had to be here…had to be…

Father had let her see Pride's true form once. One otherwise uneventful day, when Pride was asleep, Father parted the shadows that made him up, revealing the helpless infant the colour of snow that lay inside. It had been sleeping peacefully within its dark body, sucking on its thumb, cracking an eye open for a moment as it sensed a disturbance, and glanced at them with a blank expression, seldom used eyes barely able to focus on them. Father said that Pride's real body slept while he controlled his shadows, dreaming of the reality he lived in, but that was only his theory about it, it remained as one of the only things Father didn't know about the world, excluding the current location of Slave number 23.

Lust blinked hard at the thought that she'd never see her brother again, hanging her head in shame, she'd failed in protecting him, she could never return to Father now, he would surely kill her for letting this happen, the first time he was allowed outside too…she pulled her legs to her chest, at a loss for what to do.

Her sadness quickly changed to anger as she realized that Pride hadn't simply _died_, he was _murdered_, why else would the child be holding his flask? She stood up, kicking the boy hard in the chest, hearing a quiet _crack _before he rolled onto his back. Lust looked over the cuts on his body, glaring daggers even if she knew he couldn't see it.

"_You monster._ How could you…well, at least he didn't let you get away with it" Lust almost smiled as she imagined Pride slicing open his cheek and snapping his ribs, losing all sympathy she previously held for the homeless boy. Another wave of guilt washed over her as she realized that if Pride had done such a thing, all his innocence must have been tore away as well- by that boy no doubt. "I just wish you were still alive, so I could make you suffer more. What you've done…" She turned away, holding the flask tight to her stomach, wondering if Father would look for them when they didn't return, she'd need to leave town, she could easily get a man to take her far, _far_ away, but after that, where would she go?…she didn't want to think about it. A fleeting glance at the alley, she assumed that Pride's body, Pride's _real_ body would still be there, somewhere, she just wasn't capable enough to find it, though she knew deep inside that she didn't _want_ to find it, she didn't want to see how her mistake had affected him, killing a homunculus was…difficult, he must have suffered terribly…

"I…I'm sorry Pride…I know…I shouldn't have…" She echoed Pride's words from the day before glumly as she started to walk away, hating the fact that she'd upset her brother, and just before_ this_ ended up happening…

"I'm sorry…

I'm sorry…"

…

"**What's wrong…Lust?" **Lust gasped, clutching the flask tighter, turning around faster than she thought possible** "Did you do something wrong…?"**

"P-P-Pride?" Her voice was soft, as if she couldn't find the strength to speak properly

"**What is it Lust…? Where did that Little Human go…? He was…" **Pride sounded like he'd just woken up, and his voice held a distinctive echo, like when he was in his flask.

"Where…Where are you…w-what did he do to you?"

"**Whatever do you mean by that, Lust? I'm right here" **Lust stayed silent, trying to determine where his voice was coming from. She set the flask down, walking back into the alley, again glaring at child, despite the fact that Pride was alive. Lust paused; the boy's eyes were closed before, but now… **"There you are Lust, I'm glad you're back, but the Little Human…I can't see him anywhere…wonder if he ran away…" **She picked up the child by his 'collar', and his head flopped back, she tilted it upright, scowling, her spare hand clenched in a fist.

"How _dare_ you imitate Pride like that, where did you put him you little brat! ?" The boy didn't answer, his green eyes glazed, not with lust, but with the soulless emptiness that only came with death.

"**What do you mean by that, Lust? **_**I'm**_** Pride…how could I not be Pride?" **the child's mouth didn't move, still hanging open slightly. Pride's voice still echoed nearby **"Can't you see me…?"** Her sudden rage was quickly turning to confusion; she carried the boy to a window, holding him up to his reflection

"**Oh, there you are! **_**And**_** you're still making **_**Philosopher's stones**_**! That's nice, Father will really like you. Look Lust, it's that Little Human I was talking about, isn't he strange? He's so tiny, he makes Philosopher's stones too so Father might be able to use him for something."** Lust didn't understand, the boy was looking at his reflection, yet Pride could still see, and was talking to the reflection instead of the child.** "Lust…"**

"What is it?"

"**Can we go home? Father must be worried about us, and the Little Human doesn't look so good, we'll need to take him back before he runs out of Philosopher's stones**…" Lust could only guess that Pride was talking about the slowing flow of blood coming from his cheek, mouth and nose. After a moment she nodded, assuming, or rather hoping, that Pride was simply hiding inside the boy's clothes and would come out when they arrived home, he _was_ afraid of the light after all…

"Ok… Pride, let's go home" Lust lifted boy by his knees and began to carry him away, picking up Pride's flask and laying it on his stomach as she started to leave, she was careful where she chose to support his neck incase Pride happened to be hiding there.

As she went she continued to glare at the boy, and he stared blankly back, his chest unmoving, limbs dangling useless over Lust's arms.

'_He must be dead…surely he-'_

"**Is something wrong Lust…why are you staring like that..? Are you sure you're feeling ok…?"**

Lust just sighed, averting her gaze downward, Father would know what was going on, he always did, he'd find Pride in the boy's clothes and everything could go back to normal. After a while her mind wandered into a more pessimistic view, but she smiled nonetheless…

If it turned out the boy _was_ acting

And that he_ had_ done something to Pride…

Then she'd just have to kill him.

In the worst possible way…

She'd never killed a child before…

Why miss the opportunity?

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A/N Sorry for the short chapter again, I just didn't want them getting to Father in one chapter or else I would think I'd be rushing, plus I didn't want you guys to think that I rushed it in just a few days.

I'm starting school again in two weeks so I hope to get a few chapters done by then, homework'll wreck my schedule…


	13. The Boy with Eyes like Glass

A/N: Another chapter, I need to start writing these a few hundred words at a time instead of just in halves over two days X_X I never used to do it I don't know what's wrong with me. It's…2AM here, so I'll just leave the chapter here…

Previous reviewers:

Larsa7- Sorry for the short replies, it's quite late here, I'll probably update it tomorrow.

It's fine, any advice will be of some help, I guess I'll have to just think about it, thank God for the interlude chapter ^_^ Any Mrs. Bradley is good! I hope I can still write her in character after…13 chapters (it's been demoted to chapter 15…or 16…)

I wouldn't write a bad ending…not sure how I can't as the two current ends are the car incident or his reaction to Lust's death…I'm sure I'll think of something happy to put in the gap between episode 19 and episode 40…the epilogue'll be ok though… but enough of that, I don't want to think about that far in advance :S

Don't worry about the whole adorable imaginary boys over real children, I think it's because you know children have tantrums which sometimes over balance the adorability, which I have to little tolerance for…evil little boys don't do that…and when they do they smile evilly, which is even more adorable…weird paradox…

Luca…nope, it doesn't match my image of little no name either…my name is still safe! Too bad I'll get bricked and shot repeatedly when I tell everyone…now I really know how Arakawa feels…revealing Scar's name wouldn't match people's opinions of what his name should be, expectation pressure… :(

Chapter 11's end might not be rewritten after all (which can't be a good thing since Pride's motivation's already been changed to the new one here…), I can't seem to phrase it properly…

My weird head-canon says that Lust doesn't really like humans (initially) because they are so Lustful, since she can tolerate the one who asks her to dinner, and she even feels a little sad for a child, since children don't have such feelings. Still, hurt her big brother and she won't really care who you are.

It seems like Pride has an excuse for everything, if she brings a man it's 'too easily to manipulate, it's not right', if it's a woman it's 'too similar to yours, do not want (excuse the internet reference)' so really, a child body was inevitable.

I love pride's naivety in this, sometimes I wonder if I'll ever make him into a monster (in greed's words, not mine ^_^), but it's just too amusing seeing him delightfully unaware.

Normal author's note thing:

Anyway, I updated! A day late but…

Hiromu-sensei…she…still owns this… *yawn*

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Thirteen: the Boy with Eyes like Glass**

All was silent in Father's lair, the ancient homunculus scanned over the book he was reading, only half catching the meanings, his mind elsewhere, time was moving far too slow for his liking, his children had yet to return from their little 'outing'. He didn't know what time it was, and he didn't really care to find out, there was no need to concern himself in his children's wellbeing, after all, they were a part of him, they wouldn't dare to disobey him, certainly not.

Father shook his head, stifling a yawn as he closed the book, leaning back in his chair. A steady, high pitched tapping started up from somewhere, echoing along until it reached his ears, he sighed, his eyes fluttering shut of their own accord, a strange feeling rising ever so slowly in his chest, what was it?

He smiled wistfully, relaxing further, _that's_ what it was.

_Nostalgia_

It reminded him of _before_, so eerily similar to the times when he would watch Van Hohenheim tap uneasily away on the slate his Master would leave in his laboratory from time to time, using a long forgotten piece of chalk to attempt to write his name and other trivial things, writing and reading, one letter at a time, and _learning_, it was all _his _doing, he'd achieved so much since then…

Tap… _tap…tap… (tap…tap…)_

Perhaps one day he'd get to teach Pride such things, when he was mature enough to live permanently outside his flask that was, Father didn't dwell on it, too caught up in his memories of the past, the ever approaching noise securing him in them

Tap…Tap… _tap…(tap tap tap…)_

Approaching?

Father rubbed at his eyes, an unintentional scowl stuck to his face, he looked towards the door through the corner of his eye, sure enough, the rhythmic echo was emanating from behind it. Father sat up when he thought he heard a voice as well.

"…You sure you… you know what will happen if…don't you?" It sounded like Lust, he smiled, they'd come back, Pride would surely spend the next few days or weeks explaining in full detail what he'd seen and done, he assumed it would only be a matter of time until he was begging to go back to the developing town above, which would give him more time to work, so he didn't see the harm in it, so long as Lust kept him safe.

The door started to open, Lust seemingly having trouble with it, from what Father heard she was trying to kick it open, a few moments passed, and Lust stumbled backwards through the door, hardly managing to keep her footing. She was carrying something, it seemed to be a child, Father didn't understand why she would bring one to his lair, a faint, utterly atrocious idea scratched at the back of his mind, but…surely Lust wouldn't bring such a young human 'home' for such a thing as…

Well, she _was_ Lust…how could her Father know what the pure form of his sin was capable of? The idea crept forward, and after a few moments he couldn't see it being anything else, the way she held him…arms positioned in such a way, supporting him gently around his knees and back, his arms folded around something on his stomach, head resting against her breast. Father glowered, standing up, ready to correct his child's error in the acceptable 'age range' of who she had certain empty relations with, a homunculus born with knowledge as she had had no excuse for such a mistake.

"Lust…I expected better from you, really I did. Please, if you are going to insist on bringing human men back to our home for certain…'activities', I at least expect _men_, not _boys_, _that _one barely looks a day past seven, do not tell me that you plan to…though he may be older than you in years that does_ not_ mean you can-" Lust stopped in an instant, looking rather offended for a moment, before she remembered her place, bowing her head respectfully

"I intended nothing of the sort with this human, I understand completely what you expect of me as the form of your sin, I would never think to defy your restrictions about who I…'associate' myself with in that way. Please forgive me Father for making it seem like that." She bowed low, the child's arms slipping off his stomach as she did, dangling uselessly at his side. A thick drop of something slid down his finger, dripping onto the floor with a quiet 'plop'. Lust didn't notice, but Father saw it, his brow furrowing

"Care to explain, Lust? Why have you brought a child here, an injured child no less" Father continued to look over the boy, catching sight of the messy cuts running up his arm, Lust stayed silent, biting into her lip, as if she couldn't think of a way to explain herself "Well? Do not keep your Father waiting Lust. I assume those were inflicted by your hand?" he motioned towards to boy's injuries.

"N-no, Father, I…didn't do this, I brought the human with me because…because…Pride, he…" Lust stepped forward, a concerned frown contorting her usually calm face, she sighed, shaking her head "He's hiding in _this one's_ clothes, I can't find him." She hissed when referring to the boy, it wasn't like she knew his name, she never cared enough to find it out, she supposed she never would now.

"**What are you talking about, Lust?" **Pride finally decided to speak up **"I'm right here, and I asked you to bring the Little-" **He seemed to gasp** "Father! Th-th-the Little Human, y-you need to help him, he makes Philosopher's stones and…and I thought…" **Lust stared down at the child, still trying to figure out where Pride was hiding from just his voice. Father tilted his head, bringing up his hand to tug at the bottom of his beard.

"'_Philosopher's stones'_…Pride?"

"**Yes Father, he's a human, but he can't speak well, he just says 'Luna' all the time, but he was talking about Lust. Philosopher's stones come out of his nose and holes in his cheek and hands, he fell asleep on me, I asked Lust to bring him to you, since you said Philosopher's stones were-" **Father raised his hand, Pride fell silent

"That's quite enough, Pride." Father studied the 'Little human' that Pride had supposedly found, judging by the way he looked now he had been found in such a state, unless Pride had done something to him, which Father severely doubted. His head lolled to the side as Lust came closer "Is this true Lust?"

"Well I…I found the boy this way, Father."

"And is he still alive?" Lust quickly glanced down, as if doubting her previous assumptions, she squeezed at his leg tight, it was cold, he didn't react to the pain in the slightest, she shook her head instead of replying, not wanting Pride to find out that his 'Little Human' was dead, she didn't want to see him upset again, not that she _could_ anyway with his stubborn 'hiding'.

"Thought as much, bring him here" Lust nodded, taking small steps, lest Pride's flask unbalance and smash all over the floor, _the boy _was a lesser concern.

"**What are you going to do to him, Father? Will…Will he be useful to you?"**

"Worry not, Pride, I will take _good_ care of your human" Father watched Lust approach, still cradling the boy in an affectionless hold, she set him down at Father's feet, taking Pride's flask off his stomach and hurrying off to lay it in its holder.

Father wasted no time, lifting the boy up by his arms, his head slumped, staring endlessly at the floor, the homunculus hadn't really expected any different, a closer look at his numerous wounds and bloodstained clothes continuing to confirm the obvious. "Well, then,_ Little Human_, let us find your… arrogant owner" Pride's voice giggled at the spontaneous nickname, Father stared, calculating where his voice was coming from "that sounded like it was…" He forced his head back, his piercing glare boring deep into the boy's expressionless eyes, the eyes of a corpse "Pride? Are you in there? Where are you?"

"**I'm in my flask, Father, where else would I be?"** Father frowned, glancing around to Pride's flask on the nearby table, empty. Pride's voice seemed to be coming from inside the boy's body, but why Pride would hide himself inside a human's body when he had a perfectly good flask on hand seemed pointless in his Father's eyes. He tightened his grip on the boy, shaking his shoulders roughly, hoping to dislodge the homunculus which was supposedly hiding in his clothes, or so Lust said, his head rocked back and forth, only emphasizing the child's lack of control over his body. **"F-f-father…please don't, y-you'll make me dizzy…"**

Lust looked on, isolating herself from her Father's 'inspection' of the human, not knowing what to do with herself "Pride…he _is _in there, isn't he?"

"It would seem that way Lust, but not exactly in the same way we thought…" yes, he could see it now, deep in the child's empty gaze, past the mossy faded green, the faintest of pink and red flickering behind it, _Pride's_ eyes. "_Well well well_, Pride. What are you doing in there? I did not think you were capable of-"

"**F-f…"**

"Hm?" Father was quickly brought out of his daze by a peculiar twitching; he hadn't the time to examine the boy before another violent spasm tore through him, minute droplets of blood spattering around.

"_**F-fa…"**_

"What's the matter, Pride?" Lust raised her eyebrow, stepping forward at the concern she heard in Father's voice, he actually seemed…worried?

"_**F…F…F-fa, f-f-fa…"**_

"What's wrong with him Father?"

"The human's body is rejecting him; the original soul hasn't been… added to his Philosopher's stone yet, so-" The child shuddered again, trying to escape from its captor's grasp "t-the soul isn't… fully… in… control…so, it…it's acting like… this" Father clenched his teeth, crushing the smaller body to his chest, wondering how such a frail child could possess the strength to even _try_ to resist. He could see the fear in the boy's eyes, Pride's fear, but it was starting to fade, showing how the dim control Pride had over the body was being quickly snatched away.

"_**Faaaaa…"**_

"Pride…Pride…_calm down_" Father muttered, transmuting a table at his side "Lust! Don't just stand there!" He forced the hysterical child onto the table with little difficulty, hearing a loud snap from one of his fragile arms as he bent it backwards, he was marginally relieved when Pride didn't scream at the broken limb.

"W-what do you want me to do, Father?" Lust hurried to Father's side, wringing her hands together nervously.

"_You_ know about humans, do anything" Lust flinched, she'd never seen Father so angry, then again, Pride had never done anything to put him at such a risk before.

The child was securely bound to the table now, struggling weakly against the pieces of stone folded over his wrists and ankles. Father leaned in, trying to recall how Pride's shadows lulled the infant to sleep when he was being particularly rebellious. He reached out his hand, and hoped he could emulate the style of it enough to succeed.

"_Shh, _it's ok, Pride, don't worry…you…you're safe…" Father hesitated, working out if he was phrasing it correctly, he decided against waiting too long, seeing how the child had slowed its movements, listening intently to his voice "_shh…shhh…_everything's_ fine, just…relax…"_ Lust reached over, asking if she could assist in anyway. Father nodded, stepping out of the way, her attempts were as good as his.

"There, _there,_ i…it's alright." She cooed, voice like silk, cupping his cheek, trying to ignore the coldness of his skin, rather grateful that she was wearing gloves. He stiffened up at the touch, all his previous resistance melting away. Lust smiled, resting her other hand beneath his chin, forcing him to look into her eyes, she blinked slowly, encouraging the child to do the same, seeing as he probably couldn't move Lust closed his eyelids for him, pushing them down with a light touch of her finger. _"Shhh…" She _smoothed her thumb over his cheek to distract from it, trying to avoid the shredded cut in it, fearing that it would bring him out of his trance.

"_Luna…?" _A different voice called out; no doubt the voice of the child, it sounded so hopeful, yet so utterly terrified and doubtful at the same time, as if it secretly expected it to be a trick. Lust froze, it was that name again, she couldn't figure out what it meant. She tried to shake it off, reasoning it to not be important, if being mistaken for some _human_ relation would calm it down, she would abuse the confusion all she could, she wouldn't miss an opportunity to help Pride.

"Shh…_Little One_…just…just _go to sleep_…" To Lust's delight the boy didn't reply, already slumping against her hand, returning to his usual lifeless state. She sighed in relief, standing back up "Well, it turns out calming down boys is a little bit like dealing with men, just less…" She cleared her throat, knowing better than to elaborate on the subject at such an inappropriate time.

"Feelings of Lust between humans create children, however unintentional. It was inevitable you would contain some maternal instincts; it does not seem to be a hindrance to you though, Lust." Father commented nonchalantly, back to his usual emotionless demeanour. Lust turned around, still rather uneasy about what was happening.

"Father, why is Pride-?"

"Why is he inside a human child? I do not know, Lust, but I will assume that Pride must have been outside his flask for too long, and would have died had he not found another suitable place to 'live'."

"So he took over the body?"

"The boy may have already been dead; Pride just forced himself inside it, most likely through the cuts in his face. It was a sort of survival instinct; I do not think he did it intentionally, since he wasn't aware of where he was when he awoke." Father ran his hand through the boy's hair, sighing as he wondered what he was going to do with his naïve child and his rash decisions, Father could remove him from the child with ease, but perhaps this was convenient, if Pride lived through the boy then he wouldn't need to mature to be able to live outside his flask,_ this_ could be his flask, one he could control.

"Will Pride…be ok in there?"

"The human will continue to try to force him out."

"B-But then-!"

"Do not worry, Lust. I will alter the body until hardly anything of the boy remains, the child's soul will eventually drive itself insane, lose all memory of who it once was and be forgotten amongst the dozens that exist already in Pride's Philosopher's stone" Lust frowned at the idea of that quiet, optimistic, if wistful boy being trapped inside a Philosopher's stone, slowly losing his mind as he was surrounded by endless cries of despair and injustice, she quickly corrected it when she realized what she was doing, telling herself that Pride's well being was well worth the life of a simple _human, _of course it was. Lust's slight moment of sympathy went unnoticed as Father rested his hand over the child's chest, willing the still, young heart within to pulse once more, it twitched in response, adhereing obediently after a few seconds, warming whatever blood remained in the child, he didn't want it clotting while Pride slept, not to mention he'd want him to be comfortable. He reminded himself to seal the cuts lining his body in the near future, without proper 'medical assistance' the boy would surely bleed out, Father couldn't have this body rotting.

"So Pride will be able to live inside it? Using it as a new body?"

"Not a _body_ per say…something to merely hold Pride's form…"

"Like a…a container?"

"Precisely, Lust."

"…_A container_."

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I thought this was an ok place to end this; hopefully I'm not being too obvious…

I really REALLY hope slate and chalk were used to write on back then…but I should've actually _planned_ that opening scene instead of _just throwing it in_ as a way to open the chapter…

As if I couldn't feel any worse, now I had to go realize that little 'no name' will be stuck in Pride's Philosopher's stone forever…until he gets used…which isn't much better I guess…why must I be so cruel…should've killed him before Pride found him, them his soul could have left already _ This is what I get for being paranoid of making a bad OC, killing them off as soon as possible and ruining their lives within the chapter they're introduced (though I think Iris and the man Lust sorta likes [Who does have a name by the way, I just haven't used it yet] might be back when Lust goes back to Central).

Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up _on time_.


	14. Dreaming in Crimson

A/N Late again…

Reviews:

Larsa7- I had serious jet-lag after I got back off holiday, so I was waking up at 12pm and couldn't go to sleep after only being up 12 hours, the result was I was staying up until 2AM onwards.

It happens, sometimes you kinda forget, especially with maternal Lust here. She's so nice, but she's going to be rather unhappy when Pride starts calling her 'Little sister', since it'll be weird given Pride's container.

I know, what a bad mind I have, how can Father think that about his daughter? Though I love the logic I gave him 'just because he's older than you (Lusts' 2) doesn't mean you can… Bad Father! Thinking Lust is like that, this is why you're better with no emotions, you don't make stupid suspicious assumptions, that holding pose was perfectly fine! *overreating*.

Litte One's still getting my author wrath…and all because he tried to get me to keep him alive with his cute shota charm, I CANT CHANGE THE CANON FOR YOU (insert name here), don't try to make me! He's so upset, he probably doesn't know where he is…all alone…with all that screaming…No Name what have I done? ! Oh…um…don't worry…someday you'll go mad and forget who you are…that isn't much of an ending for you but…arrgh! I've dug myself into a hole…

I like this nice Lust, oh so good at helping her big bro when he's upset~

Yes…yes he is going to destroy no names body…then remake it…rules of alchemy and all that…I've left out a lot of the gory details though so you can think the worst ^_^

Warmth is important, Pride probably never felt warmth in his flask, but if the body isn't warm all the blood'll dry up and it'll decompose…hope he likes it in there…well he's an infant inside he'll be fine, babies like warmth…

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Moofy-Fan-

Don't worry, I'm grateful you took some of your time to review at all ^_^ I was actually worried a little about what people would think about chapter 13

Innocent Pride is so fun to write. I won't spoil when he becomes a monster though; it'll be a very slow process…maybe…

I'm just spouting rubbish as usual, they just seem to occasionally make sense ^_^ since she died early I can almost do what I want with her character, which is good.

New body trauma…Pride's going to freak…if he can control his body enough _to _freak that it…

Thanks for the suggestion on my pacing; I'm sure it'll work out ok in the end.

I'm very happy that my fic inspired you to write your longest review, lets hope I can make you break that record in the future ^_^

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Now, gotta just say that this was written ALL OUT OF ORDER, most of these scenes were added in at the last second and got half deleted since I just happened to decide I didn't like them, right after writing them, I don't know what's wrong with meee! This chapter's too long… I've decided, the last scene's getting moved to chapter 16 It's a mess I know…I'm so sorry…

The next chapter's the interlude chapter by the way, dunno what I'm actually putting in it, but expect some out-of-flashback action with Mrs. Bradley! Oh and my bad attempts to write fluff (I've never written fluff before…gonna be _fun_…why didn't I think this through…)

Just a little reminder, if Pride ever says something is 'blue' it's really 'orange', since Lust told him back in chapter…8 (we spent 4 chapters on two days…well, an evening and the early morning of the next day? !) that the sky was blue, but since she told him that in the evening Pride thinks orange is 'blue', I'll be sure to fix_ that_ little mistake once he learns to read and write…

...I wrote so much, despite being back at school…Arakawa-sensei…she…owns… *dies*

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Fourteen: Dreaming in Crimson**

**September 19****th**** 1680**

"Who was this boy, Lust?" Father spoke suddenly, startling a dozing Lust.

"I…I don't know, Father…I only saw him in passing, but the day before I found him he called me 'Luna', several other humans have also referred to me by that name, I did not create an alias for myself to use in town... I believe I am being mistaken for someone else."

"Find out who that is, if it is a relation to the child it may serve to be quite convenient, we can integrate you into society using the humans you will be mistook for, if this Luna still exists…seek her out, and… 'take her place', as it were" Lust nodded with a smirk, extending her fingernails to show she understood completely.

"Now…about the boy." Father tapped on the child's forehead as he spoke, staring down at the body his sleeping child had stolen "You will tell Pride he was a homunculus I created for him to use as a body" Lust sat up, raising her eyebrow

"May I ask what for, Father? Doesn't Pride already know he found a human?"

"He will not question what you tell him, should he ask tell him that I sent it to find him, in order for it to be used as his new body, we shall praise him for doing as expected, Lust. He must not find out this body belonged to a human, it would be an insult to all he believes in, that he is living inside a being he has been taught to be inferior to him in every respect, that _are_ inferior. He must never know. Do you understand that, Lust?"

"Of course Father, I will not do anything that will make Pride doubt the legitimacy of this…_homunculus_ he found, not a real homunculus I presume, one that does not embody a sin, Pride would not like the knowledge that he used a new sibling as a container" Father gave her a sideways smile, delighted that Lust was such a good liar.

"When Pride awakens perhaps we may find the name of this child who foolishly dared to approach a homunculus." Father paused for a moment to heat the boy's blood, judging by the temperature of his head it had started to cool already "Let us get started, Lust, we must make this body suitable for Pride to live through" Lust nodded, rushing over to Father's side, passing him several books on the human body whenever he asked for them.

After a while Lust sat back down, simply observing now, knowing that Father could work fine without her 'help', her gaze wandered over to the child, as Father leaned over him, studying the different parts of his body, occasionally asking her to write down modifications he would need to make in the near future. Lust could hardly begin to imagine it, even as she stared at him now.

The young, optimistic, innocent face of that frail urchin boy

…would soon be the face of her older brother.

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**First week of October, 1680**

Pride yawned, rubbing at his eye, when had he fallen asleep? He looked wearily around, his eyes only meeting with an endless void of crimson and dark 'blue'. It was warm, he wasn't used to it being like this, but it seemed…comforting.

"**I must be dreaming…"** was his first thought, he didn't mind, dreaming was fine; he could just wait until he woke up, maybe Father would have made use of that human by that time.

"Where…Where am I?" A voice echoed around, not his voice he was sure "Hello?"

"**Hello."** Pride glanced around, he couldn't see anyone.

"Where am I? Where did Luna go?"

"**Luna? Do you mean Lust? Lust isn't here."**

"No. Luna isn't Lust, please don't call her that, she doesn't like it when you call her lustful, because she isn't, she told me she isn't." The voice corrected him, a certain anger in it that Pride wasn't used to hearing. Pride hardly understood what it was saying, choosing to speak in a way that neither he nor Lust nor Father did, he couldn't for the life of him figure out why someone would talk like that.

_Hm…this is broken too…_

Another, louder voice echoed, it sounded like it was coming from outside somewhere. Pride smiled, it was Father! The other voice yelped, and seemed to dash over, latching onto Pride's body, digging what seemed to be slender fingers into one of his eyes, Pride closed it, making the eye reform elsewhere.

"Please don't tell him I'm here, I don't want to forget who I am and become lost…I need to see Luna again; she'll be worried about me." Pride looked up, he could feel the weight of someone on him, but he still couldn't see just who he was talking to "Please…let me stay here…at least until I find a way out, then I can find Luna again, then we'll be happy, like yesterday…" Pride sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to make the voice let go. It held fixed onto him, not daring to move, even when Father had long since left wherever they were in Pride's dream. The voice took Pride's silence as an 'okay' and patted at the top of his body

"Thank you" Pride ignored it, floating along silently, half-wondering if this was all this dream was going to entail.

_Pride…I don't know if you can hear me…but I learned a 'lullaby' a few months ago, and I thought I could sing it to you,, I don't really know what else to do right now… hope you like it…_

The voice perked up, raising its head

"Luna?"

"**No…**_**Lust…**_**" **Pride tried to correct it, but it seemed to shake its head, stubbornly believing that it was that 'Luna' person.

Lust began to hum something, Pride didn't know what a 'lullaby' was, but he quite liked it, so gentle sounding, so tender and caring, he felt his eyelids droop; he didn't bother to try to fight it, hoping that sleeping in a dream would make him wake up. The voice above him sighed, nuzzling into his body; he ignored it, too preoccupied with his own thoughts and the nearing prospect of sleep to care.

Pride shivered a bit as he slept, the somehow invisible person still wrapped tight around him, sleeping equally as soundly, the void shifted around the two peaceful souls, all was silent. Then, ever so slightly, Pride began to change, his dark, black body stretching itself out of the child's arms, four tendrils extending out of the tip, one short, stubby and round, the others long and thin. Soon it became apparent; Pride had taken the form of a child. He didn't wake, not even as sharp white teeth began to wind around what would be called shoulders and curled down to his waist, halting above newly developed legs. The spiraled mouth closed as skin began to fold over the human shaped shadow, further defining its shape, creating ripples in it to give the illusion of muscles existing underneath, forming fingers and toes over the blobs the shadow called hands and feet. Messy black hair grew out from the just formed scalp, falling into his developing eyes. Then all was still, the sudden change complete, the boy now clinging onto Pride's arm, still asleep, as if nothing had happened.

Pride yawned, revealing normal, human teeth, he too seemed blissfully unaware of what had happened to him, and yet, he managed to raise his spare arm, to bend his knees and pull them to his chest, to form a fist, and put his thumb in his mouth.

The now identical souls still slept, leaning contently against each other, both imagining that it was a tall black haired woman that they were leaning against instead, someone who they valued ever so dearly

_Their sister_

Younger, older, it didn't matter to them, not that they knew of their similarities. Though now physically identical, one difference still separated them somewhat.

_One was wearing a worn, tattered cloak._

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**December 13****th**** 1680**

It was a strange thing, though she didn't really understand it, but the more she saw him, though she hardly ever left his side now, the more 'cute' he seemed to become. Was he always like this? She told herself otherwise, Father had made him like this; he had never looked so healthy, not even when he was alive. Father had taken such good care of him over the past two months, sealing his open wounds, repairing his broken ribs, nose and arm, his punctured lungs, fractured skull and removing all that strange gas that was making his stomach bloated despite the fact that humans didn't eat gas or that the child whose body it was was far too poor to afford food, Lust didn't know why fixing all those things was necessary, but believed her Father's assumption that it would make Pride comfortable in his new 'container', he wouldn't like it inside if it was cracked and torn, and they couldn't have that. He believed Pride was living inside his head for the time being, his eyes still faintly visible beneath the child's own blank ones, but chose to repair most of the human's body in case his assumption was incorrect, however unlikely he considered it.

Pride panted, drawing in short shallow breaths much quicker than a normal human should, it was more of an instinct than intentional, Pride couldn't control his lungs yet, he scrunched his eyes up tight at the newly arisen discomfort, Lust smiled, imagining that Pride's real body would probably be doing the same, she faked a pout.

"_Again_, Pride? What _am_ I going to do with you?" Lust reached over, lightly dipping a cloth in the nearby bowl of water and laying it gently over 'Pride's' forehead. he quieted down at the cooling sensation, tiny hints of what seemed to be a developing smile tugging at the sides of his mouth, eventually he gave up, letting it sag back into an expressionless line, he was still too weak to fully manipulate the no doubt complex muscles there. Father wanted Pride to be 'warm' and happy while he 'adjusted' in this _'container'_ of his, but sometimes heated the boy's blood just a _bit_ too much, Lust had to collect bowls of snow and ice from outside incase Father was too busy to cool the water, before the snow came she just had to wait it out, hoping Father would notice and 'fix' Pride himself, if not…he could go on for hours.

She really didn't know what she was doing, looking after her older brother like this, while Father researched what parts of the human's body he needed to replace or remove or reconstruct, but it was all for Pride's sake, so she knew that it would be worth all the effort in the end, whenever that 'end' would come. Neither she nor Father dared to hazard a guess, lest they be disappointed when the day snuck up on them, arrived, and passed before either of them noticed it.

Lust picked up the bowl; she'd need to refill it soon, but Father was busy working and she couldn't leave Pride by himself. She sat back down, staring into the clear liquid, wondering if there was enough left to see him through the night, a wry smile graced her face, she knew she was just lying to herself. She sighed, pressing the bowl's edge gently to Pride's mouth, tilting his head up slightly, she didn't want him choking, after a moment or two he complied, forcing his cracked lips apart and letting the water trickle down his throat. Lust wasn't even sure if Pride _needed_ to drink anything, but didn't see the harm in it if it helped in keeping his 'container' the correct temperature. Lust remained still, silent, waiting patiently for her sibling to empty the contents of the bowl, she watched closely, observing with an accidental smile the minute twitches of his lips as they tried to clamp down onto the rim, and how his eyelids fluttered a little while he drank, somehow managing to know he needed to stop breathing in order to do so, hesitating every few moments to force a shallow breath through his nose, Lust paused, questioning if there was something wrong with it. Perhaps-

"How is he, Lust?" Father loomed over her, when had he stopped working?

"F-Father, I didn't see you there…" She stuttered, pulling the bowl away and placing it on the table, spilling it over Pride's face and neck in the process, she flinched at the mistake, belatedly trying to wipe the water with a spare cloth "P-P-Pride got too hot again, he seems fine now but there's no water left and…and I didn't want to leave him"

"Well, we can't be having that, can we?" Father pulled the cloth from Pride's head, dropping it into the empty bowl, replacing it with his hand; it sparked a few times, Lust watched as nothing seemed to happen, after a moment Pride let out a sigh, moving his head from side to side, rubbing affectionately into Father's hand. He cracked an eye open, they still contained their usual emptiness; Pride couldn't move them at all, since he already had eyes of his own he didn't acknowledge them.

"Oh yes, I have yet to fix_ those_…haven't I?" Father smirked as he pulled at the bottom of his beard with his spare hand, Lust knew it as a sign that he was pondering something, a certain flicker of mischief in his gaze "Why don't you run along and collect more ice, Lust?"

"But…have you not already regulated Pride's temperature, Father?"

"That I have. But, we can never be sure of what will happen, your brother has not yet fully adapted to this container yet, we should anticipate anything Lust, even the unfortunate event of Pride being completely rejected, even now, after this long."

"But…there's no such thing, that isn't possible, is it Father? I mean-"

"There's no such thing as 'no such thing', Lust. But perhaps you are correct, we should not choose to presume such a pessimistic view, he will be fine, he is very capable. _I_ made him, and I will be the one to ensure this child's body will be befitting of my pride. Now then…you go on, get that ice for Pride"

"Yes, of course, Father." Lust picked up the bowl, hurrying off to the world outside, she bit into her lip as she went, wondering if she would be allowed to visit the town while she collected the snow and ice, that human would be worried about where she'd run off to for the past two months, what could she tell him? She convinced herself not to, Pride was far more important than that human. She could wait, wait until Pride had awoke, had learned to walk and read and write and do all those other things that he couldn't inside that stuffy flask of his, then she could return to town, and see that strange human again.

Father smirked, so many colours he could choose for Pride's eyes, red orange yellow, a more vibrant green, blue indigo viole-

_Violet…the colour of the sin of pride_

"Violet it is…no…._purple_." Father leaned over, his hand hovering over Pride's face, with a swift motion his hand was already digging deep into the eye socket, fingers wrapping around their target, pus and blood leaking out between them as he tried to keep a firm grip on the gel-like substance, he ignored it, tearing the small orb out with little difficulty, bringing several blood vessels and torn strings of sinew along with it. He stopped for a moment to wipe Pride's face, before quickly moving onto the other, Pride could handle a little pain once in a while; he probably couldn't feel it anyway. He didn't see the single tear that forced itself from the remaining eye, that slid down Pride's cheek and that was lost amongst the blood that soon followed it. Pride's mouth hung open, gasping as he lay flat on the table, blood beginning to pool in the wide holes that would soon house his replacement eyes, his arms and legs convulsed in response, still held tight in place by the bindings on his wrists and ankles, Father paid no attention, disposing of what little remained of the child's second eye. Pride was far too unstable to fully control his body yet, it was merely reacting by itself. It was for the best that he kept his limbs bound.

Father dabbed at the sockets with Lust's cloth, earning a hiss and then a quiet whimper from Pride, he pretended not to hear, pressing harder into the hollow cavity, this blood was a hindrance, but evaporating it would do nothing but boil it and cauterize the nerve endings, which would only make things worse. Satisfied for now, he turned away from the sobbing form of Pride's container, deciding against sealing his lips shut, he would stop eventually. Father sat down, and began to work on Pride's new eyes, wondering how wide they should be, how big the pupils needed to be, how round, how far they needed to widen in the dark, or compress in the light. They needed to be different to Lust's, young, innocent, and hopeful, like the body he now occupied. They needed to be unique, human in appearance but something _needed_ to be different. His Pride didn't deserve anything less.

But just how unusual could he make them without them being inhuman?

It would certainly be an entertaining challenge.

0 * 0 * 0

**Second week of February, 1681**

Unbeknownst to Pride, as his soul had previously changed to suit his container, his real body was slowly following suit somewhat, deep inside the hollow skull of the now long dead child, suspended in the centre of where a brain once sat, removed by Father almost immediately after he was found to keep him comfortable, the ninety year old homunculus, remaining as an infant even after so long, slept happily in the warm new container, thumb secure inside its mouth, knees pulled up tight to its chest despite the wide void that surrounded it.

It didn't stir; it wasn't used to moving anymore, moving was pointless, its shadows were more than efficient at their 'job', should it awaken for a single moment they would lull it back to sleep before it could realize it. They caressed it lovingly at all times, willing its dreams to be pleasant, it needed to remain content, _asleep_ and content. If its dreams were unpleasant it would be upset, if it was upset it might cry, crying would make it move; moving would wake it up, if it woke up it would move more, they might have to restrain it…which would upset it…which would…which would…

_They couldn't have that happening._

Its body was well on the way to completely 'adapting', its skin was darker now, no longer the pure white of the snow that still clung to the ground above, the red spots on its unused limbs and the line running down its back barely visible, fated to vanish within a few days. Even its Father's ever precious symbol of its status as a homunculus, the peculiar image of a dragon coiled around a star, chasing its tail, once where a navel should have been, was gone, leaving just a bare, now skin coloured stomach.

Underneath its closed eyelids, the wet, blank crimson eyes that it had possessed for the ninety years of its life were absent, human eyes in their place, large and of an unusual colour, but still human, something that perhaps no homunculus should have owned.

Yet, in the centre of its forehead, a single scarlet dot had yet to disappear, much lighter than before, but still clinging to the skin unlike the others, even as it tried to fade away, again, and again…and again, it remained, as rebellious as ever. Pride could never stop itself thinking; unlike the others, it wasn't useless, it still had a purpose to serve.

Physically it was the only inhuman feature it possessed now, the only exterior sign separating it from the species it deemed so inferior.

And yet now so similar to them…

In its container made from a human…

But it didn't need to know that…

Why ruin its Pride as a Homunculus?

0 * 0 * 0

**May 18****th**** 1681**

The voice had been acting particularly nervous today; having spent the last few days making no sense whatsoever, keeping its distance, rambling about the most cynical of things Pride didn't understand, like 'Can't you hear the others? They're so loud, you're lucky, to not be able to…' and 'I hope…L…L-Lu…I can't seem to remember, but I hope she isn't here, really I hope, I want to see her again but...that won't happen now…will it?' Pride didn't like the pessimistic turn the voice had taken, he enjoyed the overly hopeful dreams it effortlessly wove whenever they spoke, of how happy it was when that Luna person came back, what a delightful, caring person she was, how she looked after him after…it wouldn't say what had happened to it before, and how it had awoke wherever they were, no sign of that dear human the voice called 'Luna'. Apparently Luna wasn't Lust at all; at least it insisted that Luna was not Lust, that they were nothing alike, despite Pride being equally insistent in that Lust could be as caring and considerate as this Luna when she wanted to be, though having no patience for humans who pestered her.

Pride was still, musing as he stared up at the endless crimson and occasional 'blue' patterns that surrounded him, it reminded him of Philosopher's stones, he had to admit he quite liked it, but he didn't notice, his thoughts elsewhere, as much as he convinced himself that he could survive away from Father and Lust for a long period of time, he wanted to see them again, he was…_lonely_, even if he wouldn't admit it.

Something tugged at his arm; he didn't need to check to know who it was

"**What do **_**you**_** want?"** he said much more dryly than he meant to, he felt it flinch

"I…I'm sorry, I just wanted…t-to tell you…" something strange happened to its voice, Pride couldn't describe it

"**Speak up, what do you want?"** He heard it sniff, trembling

"I think…something's coming" A bright light shone down from somewhere far above them, Pride didn't know the colour, but it seemed so inviting…and warm…

_He should awake within the next few days_

Pride beamed, it was Father, Father said he was going to wake up, he'd see them again, and very soon, he couldn't wait.

_Be sure to be by his side when he does, he will no doubt be confused._

The voice still cowered beside him.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" it whispered, its grip on his arm loosening, it started pulling away

"**I'm going to wake up, I've been dreaming, but, you can come with me, I'm sure Father and Lust can take care of you as well."** Pride began to step forward, towards the warm welcoming light; he stretched his hand out, wondering if it was within reach, if he could touch it… The voice let go, giving Pride an encouraging push as it stepped backwards.

"No…I can't…E-excuse me, I have to go. B-but Please do enjoy yourself…_out there_…I…I would say don't forget about me…but I know you will… everyone else has…" Pride wrinkled his nose, scowling, what had happened to the optimistic voice he knew? He didn't like it, not one bit; he turned to face the voice, and gasped.

He could see it now, the voice no longer simply a voice, but a boy. It resembled a human somewhat, but it was red, its skin, hair, eyes, clothes all red, its arms were wrapped around its waist, water trickling down from its eyes; it looked up, forcing a smile, a wide wide _wide_ smile, it waved its hand at him, seeming so far away now, the light felt closer, he could feel the warmth of it on his back…he didn't understand any of it "Please, have fun." It still smiled, even when its fingers started to dissolve, eating down its hand before it could react, "Oh! If you see her, tell L…L…Lu…!" Its feet were gone now, it started panicking, unable to hold its smile "L…tell her I…I'm going to visit Mother…and Father too!…I hope. Please… Tell her I'm sor…" The boy paused, staring down at its fading body, it blinked hard to itself, sighing "You won't remember…then…please don't look, I don't want you to see…" Pride nodded with a weak smile, turning away, facing the light once again, it was brighter than ever, too bright in fact. Pride covered his eyes, he couldn't break his promise, he wouldn't turn back around, he wouldn't look…

"I suppose this is goodbye…Good luck…" It was silent after that, Pride didn't reply, he knew _it_ wouldn't, somehow, he squeezed his eyes shut, half to block out the light, half for some other reason he wasn't sure of. He started to walk, not daring to look back even once, after a few steps the walk broke into a jog, and into a run soon after that, he didn't question how he knew how to walk, or run, he didn't question why he had legs when he never had them before, he didn't care how or why. He just wanted to leave.

He just wanted to escape this endless dream.

To see Father and Lust again.

To wake up.

His vision faded into the colour of the light as he brushed it with his fingers and suddenly lost the will to move, not hearing the anguished, child-like scream that echoed as he left.

0 * 0* 0 * 0 * 0

BABY PRIIIIIIDDDDDEEEE! You've finally made a comeback after 7 chapters! And now you're gone again…You guys have NO IDEA how difficult it was to try and figure out how I was going to make it so Pride's true form only had that red dot on its head and had purple eyes and normal skin colour…then this loophole showed itself…hope it worked out ok… Pride's soul changing was another issue, but I used the same loophole *grin*

Speaking of baby Pride, I never explained why I put his ouroboros where I did, did I? _Weeellll_…I put it were his bellybutton (need to keep using navel in the fic *bleh, hate the word*) should be because he isn't a natural baby, so doesn't have one, the ouroboros sort of represents that as being an unnatural birth, and being Father's first child. Though the thought crossed my mind about his shadows being very umbilical cord-esque when they weren't really an outline (we sort of forgot that's what they were supposed to be haven't we?) and weren't real shadows either, which would make the Philosopher's stone, it's source of support… _no_…*slaps self* what's wrong with me and my weird weird theories? ! I-It the hormones, I've gone mad with baby thoughts, damn woman hormones, go away I don't want you, you're wrecking my mind!

I need to stop keeping no name alive, or rather, in the fic, I didn't mean to have him meet Pride inside his Philosopher's stone, but I just can't bring myself to stop including him, everyone loves him, I love him. Seriously now, he's forgotten who he is, and gotten lost among the other souls, he ain't coming back from that *reminds self that* …*sniff*

Father quoted Greed in advance ^_^ I actually don't like the first Greed that much *shield* so I'll need to buy the manga and read his chapters before I start writing the chapters that have him in them…

By the way, it seems that people in Amestris can actually have purple eyes, since one of the soldiers who tried to stop Greedling's angry rampage in episode 58 had purple eyes


	15. Interlude Tea Break

A/N: On time I think…

The interlude chapter's here!

Oh, I noticed I made a mistake last chapter, I said I was going to place the last part in chapter 16, I didn't mean I'm ending the fic then, I mean that chapter 14 originally had another scene at the end of it, which I cut out, and because I thought the chapter was too long, that scene is getting moved to the beginning of chapter 16 (because of the interlude). So the fic ain't endin' just yet ^_^ let's consider this interlude the…half way point, for now, so there's a least another 14 left :)

Previous reviewers:

Larsa7-

I'll do my best, the fic ain't ending in chapter 16 though, but I wrote that all up there so nevermind.

I still feel bad too, but, I suppose…in Pride's words to Kimblee, he can live as a part of him, not much better but…what can I do ;( At least Little One's name'll be revealed in a few chapters, and then we can start mourning all over again!

Awww, thanks, well, my attempts of fluff are here now so I can't really change it now, too bad I'm still on the fence about whether this is my favourite chapter or not, since it's so short and I ran into a lot of problems with it (angsty Mrs. Bradley is a 'no'! But I'm getting ahead of myself). Hope I did her character justice, I think I'm out of practice.

I managed somehow…not sure how but…don't worry about not being able to write, when I start getting lots of homework I might be forced into a hiatus again (nooooooo :(. ) 

No no nothing like that, Luna isn't so insensitive as to abandon no name for several months, she's *ahem* gone away to work and forgot to come back…or in an asylum because of *cough cough*…'some disease', but that's way too dark for me so I'm gonna say she died beforehand. I like Lust's nails too, though I keep rather long fingernails myself I've sorta adapted to typing with them, so when I get them cut I can't type for a few hours… I don't like nail polish though…

I can't really blame Father though, since I had to make it that way, since, if my fake canon is to be believed *.* Pride obviously doesn't know his body is made from a human, and neither does Kimblee (which Kimblee's whole argument was Pride shouldn't steal the body of a being he deems inferior just to survive), so I needed to make sure Pride wasn't told of his containers origins (though in the manga he refers to it as 'the container my Father has given me', which implies he thinks Father made it from scratch). Oh, my attempts to make everything match up…ends in Father getting called for lying…good! Serves him right :D

More guilt… just what I need…perhaps one day no name will break out and make his own spinoff fic… _Llife in Proto-Central before some homunculus stole my body_"… Lullaby time in Pride's Philosopher's stone was nice and cute; Lust's still trying to be the best little sister she can, not to mention it passes the time since she can't leave him.

I think even I realized I really overdid his injuries, but I reasoned that if getting stood on by a horse and hit by a carriage wheel didn't manage to kill him, then I'd have to make lots of injuries caused by it (since the horse standing on him broke his ribs, the broken ribs punctured his lung, and the carriage wheel hitting him fractured his skull, an getting thrown into the floor by the impact cut his cheek and broke his nose, oh and Father broke his…left arm *angry fist shake* funny how we only get angry at what Father does most of the time, we're so biased by future events…). But at least Father's fixing them...

I wanted to imply Father did something to them when he fixed no name's lungs, but I couldn't fit it in anywhere. *Reads next part…* 0_0 … _ don't say things like that, you'll resurrect my inner yaoi fangirl, and I've just managed to kill her! Bad thoughts… bad thoughts! *inner fangirl comes back to life*Oh great now look what you've done…thank God I got through no name and Pride's time together before you said that…what evil have you unleashed… I suppose it's a good thing…but I just knew someone would take panting the wrong way (really bad words choice), but my reasoning was 'no one's got as bad a mind as you, so saying 'panting' will be fine', so now I know that my mind isn't all that bad but I'd better not use any words that can be taken the wrong way, now please excuse me. *goes to warm seat in Hell* 

Father's always preoccupied with something; Lust's just gotta pick up the pieces, and being abit lovesick for that human (why do I imagine him as looking like Havoc…? My human doesn't go through dozens of girlfriends like Havoc, but he's blonde so that might be it…) Father's so irresponsible, "Oh Pride's getting cold let's boil that blood again! YAY :D" stupid…quit reading on how to fix him and look after him instead! -_-

I think violet is a dark purple, I just needed Father to change his mind, since Pride's eyes actually aren't violet, but kinda grey/purple maybe (I used to affectionately call it _'cr*p purple'_ since it's a weird shade that isn't even that purple). So I made Father think (though didn't mention it, stupid me) that violet would be too obvious, so made them purple instead (Pride's eyes are darker than the soldier with purple eyes'…eyes). Purple eyes are really nice. I know Father's so violent with Pride's body, making him cry like that (funnily enough. that scene wasn't in the original version I posted, or rather, Pride didn't end up crying in it and it wasn't as gory, but the eyes still got ripped out.). I suppose he could think pride can't feel it and the body's just reacting by itself (since Pride might be accidentally using the boy's voice instead of his real one) but I don't defend Father anymore so…

Good luck finding that book, it sounds really interesting. It's awful when you can't find something that you really want.

Glad to see the skin/eye/colour/ouroboros problem makes sense, good thing I picked up on that loophole when I did ^_^. Nice to finally get rid of the problem. 

I had to write it without delicious chocolate chip cookies ;_; I felt really bad, no name's being so nice to Pride even though he stole his body (he might actually know since Pride's soul looks just like him now, minus the clothes… *slaps inner yaoi fangirl* "No, not like that!"). Not sure why pride's so nice to him, I guess it's because he doesn't/didn't know he was a human, and he's a nice little homunculus when he's young ^_^ cute pride is very cute as usual. Incase I wasn't' good at implying things, when Pride says he was talking funny he means he talks in a less formal way than he Father, and Lust does, since he live_d_ (T-T) on the streets, going by Pride's formal Japanese again. Oh and when Pride said something happened to his voice it was his voice breaking as he started to cry, since he probably knew he was going to…um...fade away and go mad, just to make the scene more heartbreaking (which isn't really possible is it?). Pride should be grateful he was the person No name said his last words to, No name must've really liked Pride, since he was probably the only reason he didn't go mad straight away. By the way, his 'excuse me, I have to go' is based on Satoshi Kon's (RIP) (a Japanese director, for some reason I hadn't heard of him before his death, but I wish I had) final message he left on his blog, since I read it just before starting work on chapter 14, I felt the way he phrased everything was really heartrending in a beautiful way, I wanted to reference it somehow. Here's the translation note from (you should look at his last blog if you have the time, but bring tissues ;-;)-

_The last sentence,__ his farewell, in Japanese is __お先に __(o-saki ni). This is something people say when they are leaving a place before other people - if you're going home from the office while people are still working for instance, you might say o-saki ni shitsurei shimasu (excuse me for leaving before you). So, he is essentially saying to the reader, "I have to go now; I'm leaving this world before you."_

The rule is: the vowels sound like their names when they are followed by a consonant and a silent 'e' (dad's bad explanation of it, but he teaches English to foreign students so who am I to question it). So the 'e' makes the vowel be pronounced in uppercase… Like Ride… or Pride, slide, grade, tube, close and lots of others I can't think of right now. Our language is all messed up X_X. God must really love watching us 'disobedient humans' try to figure out why words work the way they do. 

I had to keep telling myself that or else he would've stayed in the fic forever and pride wouldn't have developed into his evil self, *sigh* poor child, sacrificed for the sake of the canon and Pride (No name's really turning me against Pride…_REALLY?_ *needs to sort out alliances*)… R.I.P, M-*bricked, spoilers!*, we won't forget you, unlike a certain homunculus… 

Since Onemanga went down I can't seem to find any of the chapters I want, so I guess I'll just have to buy them, I've already bought volume 18 so I guess I could buy the rest eventually, specially since I don't want to ruin Greed's intro.

You rambled? _You _rambled? _I_ ramble _*WAY*_ more than you do, if anything I should be the one apologizing, I hope that I manage to maintain the normal quality throughout the rest of these chapters ^_^ everyone's been so supportive through everything, I don't deserve fans like you :')

Oh look at that, my reply to Larsa's almost as big as the chapter itself (not a good sign)

*0*0*

Mrs. Lenore (don't look so surprised you all knew her name already, it was mentioned in one of my replies to Larsa, don't think I don't know you read them XD) Bradley finally has her chapter! And it's…ok…I think, I' m not that happy with it, but I think I'm just in a pessimistic mood.

Oh, and I never mentioned how I worked out how Pride was going to get his body (this was before the fic was even written at all)

Well, to me there were only 3 options

1: Pride's body was made by Father- I didn't choose this one because I don't see why Father would give Pride a child's body when he would end up being the oldest homunculus once the others were made, it didn't seem like a very proud choice.

2: Pride's body was stolen off someone else by Pride- again, why would Pride willingly steal the body of a child, children aren't physically strong and don't get the respect someone such as Pride thinks he deserves, so it wasn't that one.

3: Accident- Bingo! Nothing else to say…

Simple as that, and yet we've got this 15 chapter fic from that simple 'how did Pride get his body' question ^_^

The genius that is Arakawa-sensei is still in possession of FullMetal Alchemist. There, I got through it today! ^.^

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Fifteen: Interlude Tea-break**

"Madam, I apologize for disturbing you, but the crate of tealeaves you ordered has arrived" Mrs. Bradley lifted her head, slowly turning toward a rather calm looking Mr. Sheridan, who apparently had not heard of Mr. Sherman and Mr. Saxon's 'trauma' from her earlier outburst, or was at least trying to pretend he hadn't.

"Ah, very good. Store them downstairs until we require them. But tell me, how many boxes do we have now?"

"Enough to last until early March, I believe."

"March…the Military training exercises are in March…no doubt _he'll_ be required to attend…and Selim wouldn't miss a chance to leave the city...I'll be drinking twice as much as usual…" She sat up, placing her cup on the table "That won't do…Please can you order more, enough to last through until May?" Mr. Sheridan nodded without thinking about it, knowing that it would be better to say yes anyway.

"Y-yes, of course, right away Madam." He whispered, slipping back out the door, closing it quietly behind him.

After a moment of silence Lenore sighed, slumping back in her chair, returning to the cold cup of tea she'd been sipping for the last two hours. When she thought about it she was fortunate to have whole crates of tealeaves imported from Xing whenever she wished, even if she had to order it several weeks in advance, she really needed to pay those Xingese merchants more for crossing the desert at her beck and call, though Amestris and Xing weren't on the best of terms at the moment, she would never consider completely severing their connections with the far off nation, her family, no, the _country_, relied on it far too much, even her husband didn't dare to imply that they were capable of surviving more than a week or two without the strange foreign drink. It was quite the funny little curse, Amestris, the country that excelled in every respect, that had revolutionized the uses of Alchemy and rose itself up from a minute village in less than five hundred years- slave to the only country they weren't almost at war with.

Tea might as well be the official drink of Amestris for how popular it was now. It was rather ironic, after all, she had met her beloved King at the subject, watching the then young Lieutenant Colonel exasperate himself trying to correct a particularly misinformed paperboy, telling him that tea was already quite well known in Amestris, despite the child's protests that it was going to be the 'next big thing' before anyone realized, assuming that no one had ever heard of it before. She had intervened of course, suggesting he let the little one have his fun, even if he _was_ obviously wrong, to keep the boy amused she decided to buy one of his newspapers, as long as she lived she would never forget the meek, delighted little smile he had as she gave him the correct amount of cenz, holding the coins tight in his tiny hands, or that—

_Cuckoo. _

_Cuckoo._

The loud 'coo' from the cuckoo clock in the hallway tore her out of her reminiscing; she glanced at the smaller, _quieter _clock on the mantelpiece, what time was it?

_Two o'clock already?_

Lenore stood up, dusting off her skirt as she approached the door. Selim had been asleep for over an hour and a half, if she was doing nothing but wait for him to wake up, she reasoned she might as well see if he was okay, he hardly ever went to bed in the afternoon, but if he was tired… who was she to not let him sleep? No, she wasn't going to wake him, she was merely…checking up on him. Besides…

…If he was already awake, she could quite easily explain that she was about to ask him if he wanted to go to town to buy a new coat for the winter. She couldn't have him wandering off by mistake and losing track of time again, not twice in one day…

She would never forgive herself if something ended up happening to him while he wasn't at her side.

0 * 0 * 0

This wasn't like him; this wasn't like him at all. Lenore scanned her eyes across the floor again, lest they be unjustly deceiving her in her old age. Nothing changed; she was forced to accept what she saw, Selim's new, tailor made jacket, strewn senselessly on the floor, lying in a crumpled heap, his shoes and socks scattered about on top of a few pieces of creased paper with as much care. Selim would never treat his custom clothes with such disrespect, what had gotten into him? Lenore didn't know if she should be angry with him, she had always enforced tidiness, and he always seemed to understand that, so why would he…?

She wasn't sure what to do except clean up the clothes and ask him about it later. Something else caught her eye, his quilt cover was hanging off the side of his oversized bed, he'd somehow forced it off while he was asleep. She sighed, gingerly stepping between the bits of paper and discarded clothing, picking up a corner of it.

"Selim, you shouldn't push your quilt off, what will you do when you get cold again?" She looked over the boy's curled up figure, his cuffs undone, tie loose around his neck, his belt pulled out of its place around his waist, she chose to carefully remove the latter two, setting them down on his bedside table, as she did he inched away from her touch, curling tighter, he was shivering "Like now…" she wasted no time, laying the too-large quilt over him, smoothing it at the edges to make it look more presentable. She stepped away, the proud lion of the Amestrian flag staring back at her, its head raised around the small body of her 'son', lying flat against its green background. After a moment or two she returned to her original intention, folding up his jacket and placing it at the foot of the bed, in case he should need it again. Her son's numerous alchemy related drawings she put in his bedside drawer, sorting them into pictures of the Elric brothers and complex, if made-up, transmutation circles- that boy had such an imagination.

Next were the shoes and socks, the socks could be washed, she took out another pair and lay it on top of his jacket, moving his belt and tie there as well.

_F-F…_

She paused as she began leaning over to pick up his shoes. What was that noise…?

F-f…Fa…nng…

A loud, strained gasp from behind made Lenore forget what she was doing, turning to face it immediately.

"S-Selim? What's wrong?" Lenore wasn't one not to worry, Selim was, of course, someone she treasured above everything else, and had already begun fearing the worst as she hurried to his side, kneeling down next to the bed. He shifted, sobbing deep into his pillow, as if he didn't want anyone to see him crying, his fingers clutching at his sheets.

"F-F…Father…d-d…" It was Lenore's turn to gasp, her eyes filling up before she had chance to think, her hand hovering over her chest, turning into a fist as her heart began tearing itself in two.

How could she have been so stupid not to see?

He was having a nightmare, a terrible thing in itself, but even worse, he was having a nightmare about his parents, his _real_ parents, she was sure. Sometimes, selfish as it was, Lenore wished that Selim wasn't simply her adopted child, not for her sake, never would she have wished to steal him away from another, she just wished he wouldn't have needed to suffer losing both his parents in one night, having been uprooted so suddenly, taken in by some woman who wanted children, someone who wasn't his mother, and forced to adjust to life as the Fuhrer's son. He didn't have time to grieve, they hadn't given him any, he always seemed so happy, so optimistic, he never gave any sign that he had not accepted the tragedy that had struck two years before…

How could she have been so careless? Of course there had been signs, there must have been, she was just too caught up in _playing house_ to notice them.

She didn't dare try to stop her tears, it was only just that she realize her mistake, the mistake that was now causing God knows how much damage to-

Selim cried out again, muttering something beyond recognition, burrowing his face into his hands.

"I…I'm so sorry, Selim. How could I be so selfish?" She didn't know what to do, trying to comfort him would make him think it was his real mother comforting him, a title she was far from deserving of, and something which would only make things worse, but seeing him like this…

"…I …I didn't… run away …" Lenore stopped; Selim hadn't run away before his parents died, so why would he dream about…?

…I got lost…I'm… sor…Father…" She gasped again, he wasn't dreaming about his real parents at all, he was… he was worried that his Father was going to punish him for getting lost that morning. The guilt she felt dissolved in an instant. She lifted him gently, pulling him to her chest, rubbing at his back.

"You poor dear, no no, shh…it's ok, Father would never think you tried to run away, never…he'd need to deal with _me_ before he even thought about punishing you. Now…shh…shh…" Lenore cooed softly, tears of relief still trickling slightly down her cheeks; she ignored them, preoccupied with her distressed _son_ to care about herself. She felt him relax, sighing as his head rested upon her shoulder. She held him for longer than she intended, but didn't care, she didn't want to let him go, he needed to know he was safe, that everything was going to be fine, even if he wasn't awake to realize it. They stayed there for several minutes, arms locked around each other in an embrace that perhaps only a mother and child could share, but she wasn't one to think like that. Slowly his breathing returned to a normal pace, and his arms became too heavy for him to support as he slipped back into a more comforting sleep. She didn't mind, lowering him tenderly back into his bed, pulling the quilt back up under his neck, smiling as he snuggled into it.

"Don't worry, I won't tell your Father" Lenore put her finger to her lips in the promised silence, she knew he couldn't hear her, but it made herself feel a little better at any rate. But her mind was not completely at rest, despite the calm expression he now bore, his face was flushed a deep red, no doubt from all that crying, she bit her lip, wishing she hadn't made him worry like that, even if she didn't mean to. She leaned forward, brushing the hair out of his eyes, cupping his cheek as she did, he pushed contently against her hand, murmuring something to himself, it was warm, no…not warm, _hot, too hot. _She pulled her hand away without warning, Selim flinched at the sudden loss of contact, the slightest hints of a frown tugging at his mouth, she didn't notice, her mind already trying to figure out the cause of his raised temperature; flu…a cold… _leukemia… pneumonia_…

Lenore cleared her throat, checking again, not wanting to find herself jumping to the wrong conclusion again, sure enough, his forehead was warmer than she would consider 'normal'. "Poor thing… after all you've been through today, you've got a fever too…" It all fit into place somewhat, _this_ was why he was so tired, why he had been so lax with his tidiness, why he hadn't changed into his pyjamas before going to sleep, and why he was having nightmares, he clearly wasn't well. How had she not realized he was ill? She pushed aside the guilt, knowing that he, since he had no other symptoms that pointed towards something worse, with plenty of rest and lots of care and attention, would be fine within a few days "Well…I know _just_ the thing for a fever." She folded the cover down below his feet, replacing it with his white dressing gown "There, that'll be cooler for you…now, I'll be back soon with something to make you feel better." Lenore smiled as Selim made a high pitched noise similar to a sigh deep in his throat, his mouth formed into a small 'o', moving in a slight sucking motion, his hand eventually found itself near his lips, them clamping around his thumb when it drew near, the corners of his mouth curled into a smile around it. She sighed, leaning over, kissing him softly on the forehead, patting his hair down as she did. "Sleep well, Selim" She made no attempt to pull his hand away, if it soothed him there was no harm in it, she supposed, especially if he wasn't feeling well.

Without another word she hurried towards the door, off to prepare the certain something that would benefit Selim. As she closed the door behind her, Selim's shoes remained upturned on the floor, his socks in a bunch next to them.

Because, when it came to _it_ or his well being, Mrs. Bradley cared little for her son's appearance in the eyes of others too.

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One day I wish to make a fan-comic where one of the servants brings a giant box in full of tealeaves and Mrs. Bradley goes all superhero and pulls a crowbar out of nowhere and breaks it open just so Selim and King can have their tea (weird I know, but Mrs. Bradley's just that awesome)

I know there are no clocks in the Bradley household but I needed something to get her out of her reminiscing.

Pride's rash jacket, socks and shoes tossing has come back to bite him after 13 chapters!

I hope Selim's quilt cover isn't so cliché, I just thought the flag of Amestris would be appropriate (but it kinda shows how big his bed is, if his whole curled up body is only the size of its head 0_0 I think I overdid its vastness…), being the president's son and all.

You'd think it'd be suspicious that Selim seems to be taking the death of his parents very very well.

Now, Pride's nightmare may or may not be in the same timeline as the flashbacks, as in, might not be simultaneous with where last chapter ended (it may have once been, but Mrs. Bradley's temporary angst made it not so), it may be for another future flashback though so keep your eyes peeled! :)

About the Bradley family's servants, Sheridan is the old one (the one who tells Selim it's time to go to bed or else he'll have trouble waking up in episode 37), Saxon is the blonde one (who, I believe, had no lines), and Sherman is the bald one (who tells Edward to 'Step away from Selim-Sama' in episode 32). Just wanted to clear that up.

Pride's thumb sucking still survives even in the present day! Mrs. Bradley doesn't seem to mind it at all, so it's fine.


	16. The Subtlest Signs of Weakness

A/N: I'm laaatteee, by about 4…5 days! ;_; I'm sorry everyone… but I'm here now with hopefully another up to scratch chapter, so that's alright…right? _Right?_

Previous reviers:

Moofy-fan-

Poor poor Pride, you're getting my M-*Bricked* I mean No Name induced author wrath, since it's your fault I made him and killed him within 2 chapters…killing him off was not a good move… that being said it is very adorable to see Pride upset while asleep, double, no, _triple_ the cuteness with Mrs. Bradley cameo/chapter, mini hurt comfort fic without the angst, everyone wins!…if only I could draw… *off to practice*

So suspicious, though you'd think the purple eyes would be a bit noticeable too… But Mrs. Bradley can't see when she's blinded by maternal LOVE! Much too busy fawning over him to notice that he isn't traumatized from his parents kinda …_dying! _But her obliviousness is what makes us love her all the more so no harm done! :D

Ah, Mrs. Bradley…always making mistakes…it's fun to write her interpreting things wrong since we all know how wrong she is ^_^ She's so awesome and interesting, I'll need to write about her more *can't wait for the epilogue now…but that's a long time away…* Though she's got more time in this than the 2003 anime…she had a better English voice actor in the 2003 anime *shot*, whoa whoa whoa! I did not say I couldn't complain about the English VA of Mrs. Bradley! …and she is terrible in Brotherhood, I can't decide who is worse between her and Selim and Pride (whose voice totally ain't obvious who it is…need better voice distortion software FUNImation…putting Brittany on the additional voices list in episode 24 didn't help matters much either…I dread episode 32…so much.) Anyway rants over. That being said…I wonder what Wrath made up when he said Selim's parents died…_flashback bait get_! *starts thinking*

Sorry I'm late with the update, school coursework is bleh, but no time for excuses, _'moar_/more' Pride flash backs to be thinking about! Thanks for the review; I couldn't keep writing like I do without you all.

Ryoko-Yuki-

Thanks for the links, they're gonna help out tons, I'm always paranoid, but I guess I'm just repeating myself from my PM. Either way I greatly appreciate it, it certainly beats buying the Greed chapters *shields self from Greed fans "I'm still writing about him aren't I? Would you prefer me to miss them out? !"*, so now we can officially have Greed chapters with no fear (I was planning on writing them by making stuff up…though that's what I usually do I know Greed's a pretty popular guy…and I can't really mess with his character since he was always the dark horse of the family…I think.)

By the way…thanks for humouring me on the whole 'everyone-reads-my-replies-to-my-reviewers-even-if-they-aren't-said-reviewer' thing, and I thought I was just being paranoid ^_^

Larsa7-

I just know that I can't stop after writing so much and that I've got people waiting for me to write this…I don't want to be one of those who goes months without updating, the pride fangirls will kill me… I hope to get it finished by it's 1 year anniversary at the very most, I don't think I'd like to keep the people who'd been reading this from chapter 1 waiting that long 0_0 Plus I like mashing all my random ideas into something actually worthwhile. It's nice to know I have at least one person who'll stick around until the end, which makes it worth all the effort ^_^

I'll try not to make the references to his time of being alive to heartbreaking; I want to forget aaaallll about him too, since he's making me treat Pride badly. 

Yeah, chapter 4 was really tiny, Chapter 15 was about halfway for chapter length, 7 shorter than it and 7 longer than it. Glad to see I wasn't that out of Practice with Mrs. Bradley, she's so sweet…

I really need to cut my nails, since now I'm really scared of breaking them and they hurt a bit if I write too much.

Me thinking Father's super evil might not work out so good when he's teaching Pride how to read and write…but I'll worry about that when I get to it *checks new plan* …next chapter *gulp*0-0

I don't think I could write a spinoff, since it'd mean I couldn't just… imply 'things' like I'd done in chapter 10, besides, who would I put on the character option? I'll think about it, maybe just a little one shot about No Name's life.

She needs to stay dead because with my bad mind I'll be taking things really in the wrong context (hint hint: this chapter's probably full of stuff that could be interpreted so wrong…). I'll keep it in mind that you're mind is somehow worse than mine, there's now about 5000 words I can't use now XD. Pride and ED ? ! ? ! 0_0 asdfghjkl *gets drink and spits it out* no, no no no aahhh bad mental pictures! ! *faint* the manga kinda implied things but I just thought Arakawa didn't want to draw their clothes since she was strapped for time, Brotherhood kinda threw that out the window but still. Oh don't worry, most of my purity went ages ago, you know it's bad when you're thinking that Pride-Father could not be that bad *pats seat in Hell* what? Don't give me that look, I _know I'm_ mad (the following chapters just got 70% more difficult to write), since I don't like Pride-Envy and Pride-Greed at all, I don't mind Wrath-Pride or Pride-Kimblee (though I kinda don't like it that much since Kimblee backstabbed Pride like that) though I doubt someone would be crazy enough to write _that_ oh what am I saying, what have you done? ! You've turned me into a Pride-anyone shipper! No, I've changed my mind; Pride shouldn't be paired with anyone! Nope, nope, no one… *denial…* X_X

I actually like Pride's eyes, I just didn't like the purple when I first saw them, but I've warmed up to them and now I love them ^.^. I find it amusing how he suddenly starts sporting what looks like eyeliner when he's feeling abit evil too ^_^ I wonder if he does it on purpose, since he can modify his container's appearance a little bit (though I think that only applies to his fake-skin's stretchy-ness to make himself look taller/shorter) 

I actually _don't_ like writing horror, though I suppose I make stuff sound really terrible when I write bad things happening to people. Maybe after I've finished this I'll write Anime1 Selim's death scene again, since it really was awful how he died, but knowing me I can make it worse (somehow, I don't actually remember where I read it, might have been a book about hangings or something…nevermind, I found out that when you get your neck snapped the signals in your brain gets disconnected for a second and certain *ahem, gross detail alert* bodily functions can 'fail'…aaannd now his death is ten…no, a hundred times worse, thank you Bones for being so merciful with the little guy when you animated the first FMA, not like Czeslaw's choking… no sir-ee…but Bones didn't animate Baccano so I digress.). Though, *rambling here* I have had a recent pokemon related interest spark…thing, and I have fallen in love with the newest generation's homunculus pokemon RANKURUSU, I might write a little horror story involving it, especially with some of the newer pokemon having rather…disturbing pokedex entries (namely, HITOMOSHI (a candle, pretends to be a friendly guide for people lost in the dark and steals their 'life force', glows brighter after it's done so), RAMPURAA (a lamp; appears to people on their deathbeds and sucks out their souls) and SHANDERAA (When someone is surrounded by its flames their soul is ripped out and immolated, leaving only the cast off body behind), I might write a little one where a RANKURUSU meets these pokemon at different times in its life, since they strangely share the same height throughout their evolutionary lines and then it…whoa…I've really gone off track. *cough* but of course, that's only if I decide to write one of the two above options.

Nice to see I'm spreading Satoshi Kon's blog post to the world, I wish I could write something so profound and thoughtful, but I'm not old enough I suppose. I've already watched Paprika (which inspired inception) and I want to watch all of his other movies, I feel bad that I never realized his genius when he was alive… It's amazing he could write all that, really inspirational 0_0. Another amazing individual stolen away too early… 

Please don't flatter him too much; I'm sure he likes his job a lot. I don't know how he does it though, I'd be really embarrassed, plus I don't have the patience to teach people -_-# 

Money? *rereads reply* the volume 18 thing? No no no no no no_ no_ *hah*, I've bought volume 18, as in, _only_ volume 18, none of the others (well…I have bought volume 1, 3, and 4, but that was ages ago and I've kinda lost them…). Manga's quite expensive here I think so I need the internet for my manga too :D 

Not really, I just know that I don't like it when I write review something and people don't reply to it, so I write lots and lots and try to reply as best I can, and then I start rambling… I always try to write in good English though, since it'll help my spelling and it's always good practice with my GCSEs this year, and because lots of my friends always shorten their words and use bad grammar when they talk on the internet, it takes me ages to 'translate' what they're trying to say X.X oh looks I'm rambling again…

No no it's fine, I really appreciate it. oh don't say that, it's more like I think 'hey, wouldn't it be fun if Pride did this?' then find an excuse/loophole I can exploit/abuse to make it at least credible, but I think I'm running out of loopholes now 0-0 best not think about what happens then… 

I don't know why I think the Bradleys have the worst tea addiction in the world, I think it's because people in England love tea and I associate it with sophistication and etiquette and all that other nice stuff. Too bad I don't like tea T-T So I just make her drink it instead. 

Ah…Pokemon… *nostalgia* meek is such a nice word, but I can't use it much in this fic about Pride. should I *ahem* acquire a mew in the future I might name in 'meek' (totally not stealing your idea) but I've mentioned my Pokemon-related-renaissance above so…moving on… 

Oh don't worry, I take really bad care of my room too, but Mrs. Bradley needs to at least pretend to enforce it, though Pride being his ultimate amazing arrogant self shouldn't be being messy anyway…

As I've probably mentioned before, I *love* deliberately writing incorrect things, just so the reader can go "Oh, *insert name here*'s so naïve and wrong, WE know the truth hehe" or something like that ^_^ Pride's transmutation drawings skills are second to none…too be he can't actually use alchemy (at the time the fics set anyway) 

Poor Lenore…I'm making you worry, thinking Selim's actually traumatized and all that… Father! I don't know how this is your fault…actually I _do, _either way it is _all your fault_! You should be ashamed! Mrs. Bradley, do what you do best, comfort little…Selim…Pride…whatever, you're the one who's managing to make the evvvill little homunculus love you, you ain't been neglecting him! I've kinda lost sight of where I was going with this… 

Fluff- I now love writing it…yes. So adorable…you go Mrs. Bradley, console that little arrogant homunculus who ain't so arrogant coz I'm bothering him with random fever inducing flashbacks! (Inner yaoi fangirl: that doesn't sound right _at all._ "Be quiet you! Stay dead damn it" *bricks*)

There's a chance he _really_ has a fever? Hmm…I didn't think of it like that *oblivious* since in the plan *points to plan* I assumed/made up that he had a fever due to him dreaming about a time he had one in his flashbacks. But since I've accidentally implied that him damaging his eyes causes his fever, I guess he really could have one, yay for two choices for where to take it! *_* He must be really ashamed, even if he's asleep…aww… 

Nope, from the wall shot of the corridors in episode 32, they're all white and bland, but I wanted clocks in the house and I successfully added them, I don't know how they can survive without knowing the time, but I can't blame the animators for not bothering to include something that isn't that important to the scene I suppose.

More flashbacks to come ^_^ and character development maybe…that's gonna be good...

Such a cheap excuse I'm using aren't I? Oh, Pride sucks his thumb, no no not just because it's cute… it's because…he's really a baby, so it's totally fiiiiine! XD

Your super long reviews are always greatly appreciated, especially since you've only just moved into your new apartment (?)

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Will write author's note later…again

Arakawasensei owns FullMetal Alchemist as usual.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Sixteen: the Subtlest Signs of Weakness**

**May 18****th**** 1681**

The quietest of sighs disturbed the otherwise silent atmosphere of Father's lair, Lust rubbed her eyes, trying her best to stay awake, Father couldn't catch her not keeping a suitable watch over Pride.

_Be sure to be by his side when he wakes, he will no doubt be confused._

_That_ little fact didn't help Lust's unease in the slightest, how could she explain why he had fallen into an eight month long coma and was now in a new, human body? What could she say if he asked where his 'Little Human' had gone, especially since he now looked suspiciously like said human, she'd need to keep him away from mirrors for the time being, she told herself, at least until he forgot about that fateful day in September. Such a time felt like an eternity away to her, so long since she had seen the small blob of shadow that had for the two years of her life her older brother, with his endless curiosity and that innocent toothy grin that was far too big for his body, perhaps she'd never see that smile again, such an expression might have been impossible for a human to make.

Still, she reasoned, this body would make him happy, which was far more important than her longing for everything to stay the same as it always had, she couldn't dwell on the past.

Lust crossed her legs, her patience beginning to wear itself thin, if Pride was upset she could sing him the only lullaby she knew, at least that would pass some time, Father had stopped heating his blood as of late, Lust could only hazard a guess that he didn't want to keep cooling him down, seeing as the snow had melted months ago, or saw it as something that made Pride unhappy, an excuse that Lust didn't really see the logic in, since Pride had gotten many fevers before which Father didn't act against, but none as terrible as when he got his eyes replaced, if anything it meant that Pride's new body didn't react well to 'damage', she shuddered when she remembered that day, Pride thrashing around on the table, screaming in a voice that wasn't his own, crying out about how sorry he was, begging Father to 'change his mind', whatever that meant. Father's attempts to console him only made the situation worse, Pride desperately pulling away from his touch the best he could, shrieking as though in pain when Father shook his shoulders, tears streaming from his closed eyes. Lust had attempted comforting him too, long after Father had given up on trying, and succeeded somewhat, using up all the water and ice she had collected before Father had 'fixed' his eyes. Regardless, with no need for ice now, Lust had nothing to occupy her time with, it wasn't that she wanted Pride to be miserable, she just wanted…_something_.

"Oh Pride, why won't you wake up…? I'm sure you've slept enough" She ran her gaze over Pride's new body, starting with slightly curled feet attached to his pale, thin legs, his chest and stomach were still covered by his poor excuse of clothing for the sake of decency, ripped, torn and repaired countless times as Father fixed the child's body, brown spots of blood decorating it, Father had no time to clean it, it wouldn't matter anyway, when Pride woke up he'd get new clothes, or so Lust assumed. His wrists and ankles were no longer pinned against the table, ever since his fever Pride hadn't moved his limbs more than a few inches, Father saw it as a sign he was becoming more accustomed to controlling his actions while sleeping, and had removed them for when he woke up, whenever _that_ would be. Though his limbs remained relatively unchanged by Father, his face looked much healthier, a rosy pink lining his now hidden cheekbones, surrounded by a soft fat that clashed horribly with the rest of his malnourished body.

"That cut doesn't help matters either…" Her eyes stopped on the red ridge that ran across his left cheek, the only human skin Pride had on his body, so eerily similar to the one the boy had died with, though not nearly as deep or bloody, instead a perfect, neat line, only a thin streak of blood running down from it, she had been instructed not to clean it, apparently Pride would heal the scratch by himself when he was close to waking up, changing it into whatever resilient skin-like material the rest of his body was made of now. Pride merely groaned at her words, turning his head away, his eyes darting about under their lids. Lust pouted, tilting his head back into its correct position, Pride went still, gasping, shivering slightly. She pulled her hands away. He scrunched his face up tight, forcing a tear or two out of his eyes. Lust brought her hand up to her mouth, flicking her eyes to the side, trying to locate Father as well as keep an eye on Pride.

"Father…? Pride…he's…" she wanted to turn around, but if Pride moved while she wasn't looking…

Pride opened his eyes, a wide eyed, innocent, _purple _gaze boring deep into hers, her voice stuck in her throat, she gulped

"P-P-P…Pride…" he blinked at her, a few more tears rolling down his cheeks, he didn't notice them, never looking away, Lust didn't dare to either, as if doing so would make him go back to sleep.

"Father…Pride…he's awake…Father…" where was he? She didn't know what to do, Pride opened his mouth as if to say something, but he didn't, no sound passing his lips, Pride frowned, trying again, to the same effect. His eyes welled up.

"No, Pride, please don't cry…F…Father will be here soon, really…" Lust lifted him up by his shoulders, making him sit upright; he flopped forward, unable to hold up his weight, his hair falling over his eyes.

"So he's awake now, Lust?" Father boomed beside her, again appearing without any indication.

"F-F…F…Yes, I-"

"I would like some time with Pride alone, please find something else to occupy your time until I call for you."

"B-But-"

"_Pride is no longer your concern_, _Lust. I_ am here now." Lust froze, letting go of Pride immediately, she was silent, with a polite bow she hurried away, doing her best not to scowl. Father ignored her, turning his attention to his no doubt distressed son.

"Hello there, Pride, are you ok?" Pride lifted his head weakly, staring up at Father with his wide eyed confusion; he mouthed something, frowning again when no sound came out.

"You can't speak? But…" Father stopped when Pride hung his head in shame, his shoulders shaking.

"Oh, never mind that…it is fine, you'll probably get your voice back soon…" he didn't react, perhaps unable to express the reaction he wanted. Father sighed, reaching forward to wrap his fingers around Pride's hand, them more than dwarfing it, he was quite sure he could crush the few remaining bones in the frail little extremity with ease if he desired to. Pride gasped, tensing at the sensation that ran up his arm, automatically trying to pull his hand away, but much too weak to do so.

"Shh, calm down Pride, I know, it was cold in your flask…you've never felt real warmth before…have you…?" Father wrapped his spare arm around Pride's back, lifting him onto his knees and pulling in him to his chest. He heard him sniff, his head burying itself in the folds of his robe. "Don't try to speak, just…save your energy. You're so confused…you poor thing, I will need to look after you now…won't I?" Father rubbed at his back, feeling the coarse material of Pride's cloak "…and you'll need new clothes as well." Pride didn't answer, not that he could, and as he leaned against his Father, his eyes still open, wide and unblinking, filled with the innocence of a child, he stared endlessly ahead into the white of Father's cloak, he didn't understand, he didn't know what to think about anything. He could only frown, and keep staring.

_What was Father talking about?_

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"Sorry, Pride" Pride winced, anticipating what was surely to come if Lust was apologizing. Before he could hold his breath the torrent of water was upon him, forcing him to curl up tighter. He didn't know why Lust was doing this; Father had looked so disgusted with him for some reason, calling Lust and informing her to 'cut Pride's hair and give him a bath too'. Pride knew he didn't have hair, but…what was a '_bath'_? Lust had given him a look of remorse, before pulling some large cloth off of him and placing him into a large empty bowl. Then she'd-

"Sorry." More water, Pride wouldn't have minded, except he couldn't breathe, and it was _cold_

"I'm sorry" it was so_ cold_. He never stopped shivering, a loud 'chattery' sound coming from somewhere nearby, it didn't help that he couldn't see, most of his vision obscured by thick black strands that moved about and stuck to his face. He couldn't ask her to stop; he still couldn't talk for some reason, Father had said it would come back soon.

"I…I'm sorry about this…" Pride squeezed his eyes shut, awaiting the cold.

Nothing came, he cracked an eye open, Lust hadn't done anything yet. He remained still, patient, hearing footsteps he turned around sharply, the pieces of black swishing to and fro as he looked for his sister. He didn't see her crouching behind him, frowning at the thought of what she'd need to do, rough cloth in hand, ready to do as Father had told her.

_But would he ever forgive her for treating him like this?_

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Lust gulped to herself, pressing the cloth firmly into his back, gritting her teeth as she began to scrub. Lust heard him gasp, lowering himself away from her.

"Please, Pride, don't do this…" she carried on, trying to ignore his quiet cries of discomfort, working her way onto his arms far quicker than she intended. Lust gave up before she reached his front, knowing that she couldn't possibly wash him with those sad eyes staring at her. She encouraged him to lie down, dipping his unkempt hair into the relatively clean water, it turning a murky brown almost immediately after, several dozen insects drifting away, drowning as they did, Lust ignored them, she wasn't capable of shaving his head, Father would just need to dispose of them himself ,sucking in a breath, she dug her hands into the floating mess of hair, getting her fingers intertwined with it almost immediately, she didn't move them, she didn't need to upset Pride _yet_, she could wait just a _little_ longer. Instead she dug her fingers into his scalp gently, pushing it this way and that, well aware that by the time she was finished most of it would need to be tore out. Pride sighed; making a quiet noise of approval in his throat, Lust bit her lip, knowing that she couldn't waste time forever, but if Pride could fall asleep then perhaps…

The water was brown now, Lust lifted him out of it, her hands still buried in his hair, seeing no other option she scrunched her face up tight, whispered a 'sorry' in Pride's ear, and _pulled. _

When Lust dared to open her eyes she couldn't see, fingers digging into them. She pulled them away, her hands shaking, thick clumps of black wound tight around them; she gasped, pulling them off, flinching as she heard the strands snap. Dropping them into the bowl with a grimace, she shook her head, extending her fingernails, sharpening them. She swallowed, stretched her hand forward, and lightly began to snip at the remaining hair, brushing it off his shoulders and into the murky water below. Lust had no experience cutting hair, and knew scissors would have done a far better job, but Father had told her to, and who was she to question him? With another breath, she cut away the rest of the bits that hung over the back of his neck. Soon all remained were the limp pieces that hung over his eyes, she didn't want to cut the front, he hadn't even reacted when she had ripped out most of it, he was being far too quiet.

She pulled him around, cautiously brushing the hair out his eyes, fearing the accusing glare she would no doubt be receiving.

It was worse, much worse. His mouth hanging open, blood bubbling from the slice in his cheek, he'd opened it back up from sobbing, his cheeks were sparkling with tears, dripping into the bowl, his whole face a bright red, the skin around his eyes swollen and pink. He stared at her, his eyes seeming larger than ever, everything about him asking 'why?'. She tried to offer a smile

"I…I need to cut your hair, if you just…" she raised her hand, making a snipping motion with her fingers to demonstrate her point. She reached forward, her fingernails waving dangerously close to his eyes, he whimpered, pulling away from her as she closed her fingers, cutting his hair diagonally, leaving a large jagged piece on his right side, his eyes followed the hair as it dropped into the bowl with a loud 'plop', he blinked, looking back to Lust for some explanation, "Pride…you made me miss…here, let me-" Pride shrieked, shaking his head, he hiccupped once, twice, before breaking down into sobs once again, resorting to the only way he knew how to express himself in his new body. A lump built in Lust's throat; she frowned, she wouldn't have minded if he hated her, but seeing him scared,_ afraid_ of_ her_, that was the worst thing, she was supposed to look after him, even if he was older. But now…

Lust left him, approaching Father's chair, the older homunculus was busy reading something too complicated for her to understand, not that she was interested at the moment

"Is he presentable now, Lust? Free of those vile disgusting things?" Father didn't look up from his book

"Yes…" She lied without thinking, her mind elsewhere "but he doesn't have any clothes" Father nodded

"Take my coat; I will begin work on Pride's new clothes now" He motioned behind him; towards the coat he had crossed the desert in, a pure white with purple and gold lining- clothes suitable for royalty no doubt. Lust reached for it

"Actually" Father stood up, setting the book down in front of him "I will take it to him, you can do as you like until I have done making his clothes." Without giving her time to reply he tucked the coat under his arm and rushed over to Pride, who had since managed to push the washtub over and drag himself away from it. Father stopped a few feet away, watching his child gasp and shiver pitifully in a quivering ball, sopping wet, lying in a shallow puddle of brownish water, patches of wet hair clinging to him, as if trying to cover up his shameless nakedness, Lust hadn't cut his hair properly, not at all. He smeared blood all over his face as he tried to curl up even tighter, wrapping his hands around his knees, trying to shield himself from the harsh cold that relentlessly whipped at him.

"Pride?" The boy jumped at the voice, looking at him through the corner of his eye, he moved his mouth, miming 'Father' after a moment.

"I told you not to try to talk, Pride. But…I'll forgive you this once." Father scooped up Pride in his coat, holding him close against his chest. He carried the bundled up weeping mess over to his chair, laying him in it and beginning to wipe him down, the coat doubling as a cloth.

"Lust really made a mess of you…but at least you're clean now." Pride only hiccupped in response, trying to keep the oversized cloth wrapped around him, beginning to lean against it, his eyelids starting to droop as he was enveloped in the 'warmth' that he so longed for. "I'll start working on your new clothes, you just relax. Ok Pride?" The younger homunculus nodded, already starting to use the chair arm as a makeshift pillow. Father gave him a little pat on the head, inching away to begin planning what clothes would be suitable for his child. His Pride deserved much more than clothes of _Lust's_ quality. No, if his own clothes were clothes for soon-to-be God's, then Pride deserved clothes befitting…

_Royalty?_

Father glanced back at Pride, now sleeping peacefully, the King of Xerxes' cloak completely burying his small frame, but he didn't seem to mind it in the slightest. His oddly styled hair had started to dry, the too long right side beginning to flick upwards in a strange misshapen curve, he quickly moved his head lower, flattening it in its raised position, it would probably stay like that until it was cut again.

Father raised his eyebrow at the idea that appeared in his mind.

_Royal clothes, huh?_

He tugged at his beard, his eyes sparkling with their usual mischief.

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"F…Father…_Father_…" Pride whispered, his voice not letting him speak any louder, Father continued to ignore him, red sparks fizzing around him, he mumbled something as he held what would be his new clothes, shaking his head and returning to altering them. Pride slumped against the side of Father's chair; he didn't remember how he got there, only he woke up cold, lying back on the floor. His body stung at the top, he guessed it was because of what Lust did to him, whatever it was, he didn't know why she would do something like that, but he'd assumed that he was still dreaming, although this was a really convincing dream, Father and Lust behaving like they did convinced him that it was, Lust would never do something he didn't like. He sighed, something near his mouth stung too, he didn't want to try to talk anymore, and instead watched Father work on the coat he borrowed off the King of Xerxes, the coat he was quite sure Father had wrapped him in, only to take it away without warning. He didn't like this dream, not one bit.

Quiet pattering footsteps made him turn his head, was it Lust, or rather that inconsiderate, cruel imitation of Lust? He didn't want to see her either way, but his desire to be acknowledged forced him to change his mind

"L…Lu…" The sound got louder, he smiled, ignoring the dry feeling at the back of his mouth "L…Lust!" He heard someone gasp. Lust nervously approached Father, holding something in her arms.

"I…is Pride talking now, Father?"

"I do not know Lust, do not disturb my work, you are to keep Pride company if he is awake, he is in my chair, tell him he should go to sleep."

"Is…is that your…?" Lust stuttered as she caught sight of Father's coat

"I am _busy_, Lust, you do your task, I will do mine." She sighed; sitting to the side of Father's chair, knowing better than dare sit in it, besides, Pride was there…

…Wasn't he?

"No…not s-s-sit…Father's chai…Lust…" She turned towards the voice, Pride was kneeling at the other side of Father's chair, his hands unconsciously resting between his legs, he still had some sort of self-dignity at least, even if he didn't realize it.

"Pride? Father didn't give you any clothes?" She started crawling towards him, a faint pink lining her cheeks, she kept fixated on his face for his sake; he must have been so embarrassed, wearing no clothes like that…

"Father…c-clothes? D…Dreaming… Lust." He stopped, trying to catch his breath, talking so much was putting too much strain on his new body, Lust didn't understand what he meant, but smiled reassuringly nonetheless

"Shh, you're going to lose your voice again if you talk too much, Pride. H…_here_" she offered out what was holding, it was her human clothes, washed and dried so as not to look awful in comparison to Pride's clothes, but he clearly needed them more than she did at the moment. He stared, oblivious to what she wanted him to do with them.

"Oh, um…" She couldn't ask him to stand up; those legs would barely hold him up even if he had the strength to. Lust just shrugged "Don't worry, Pride, I'll look after you until Father's finished" With that she pulled him close, wrapping him up with her human attire, he latched onto her, forgetting all about his previous fear, this was obviously a _different_ Lust from the other one, his dream was just toying with him. He yawned, nuzzling closer to her, a quiet smile forming on his face.

Lust smiled, running her hand through his now dry hair, careful to not get it stuck again, avoiding his no doubt still sensitive scalp, delighted that he'd somewhat forgiven her for what she'd done, even if she didn't deserve it. He murmured something under his breath, well on the way to drifting back into a relaxed sleep, she was glad, he'd gone through so much today, he deserved a rest more than anyone else.

"_Finally!" _Pride scowled, clinging tighter to Lust's body, moving away from whatever was trying to disturb him. Lust rubbed at his back, cooing senseless things what she hoped would calm him down. She turned; Father was staring at Pride's new coat, much smaller than it used to be, but still far too large for Pride's underdeveloped form, Father must have altered it with alchemy. "Lust, is Pride asleep?" He whispered, leaning forward with the new cloak. Lust nodded, slowly pulling her cloak away from him, his scowl deepened. Father picked him up by his twig like arms, pulling the soft material over his head with little difficulty; he slipped a large purple ribbon around his neck, and placed him back in Lust's lap without a word.

"G…Goodnight Father" She whispered as he turned to leave, smoothing out the developing creases in Pride's robe.

"Sleep well, Lust, take good care of Pride." She nodded, hearing Father return to his book soon after. Her gaze fell on the older homunculus that took the form of a child, examining his clothes as well as she could. The robe was a brilliant white, pure and untainted, just like Pride, the sleeves folded around him several times, hanging in line with the edge of the robe, dangling over his feet. A large hood served as a pillow, bunched up behind him, oversized like the rest of his handmade attire. A thick purple sash- a deep violet, much darker than Pride's eyes, ran its way diagonally from his left shoulder, sagging loosely off his body; Lust couldn't see what purpose it could serve, and reasoned it to be merely a useless accessory, only to display Pride's status. The whole outfit had a certain familiarity about it; she didn't try to place it, already aware that she wasn't far from falling asleep as well. Pride just nestled himself in the endless folds of the clothes that belonged only to him, pulling his knees to his chest. She yawned to herself, pulling Pride closer to her, trying to warm the frail little thing that was her older brother, even if he was wrapped snug in his blanket-like robe, she couldn't risk him getting cold again, he'd spent so long in that lonely flask, but he was free now, she smiled as he inclined his head affectionately under hers, she lay her arms around him, shifting to lean against Father's chair.

"Sweet dreams, Pride. We've got a lot ahead of us now, haven't we?" Lust knew he couldn't hear her, but didn't mind it, Pride was peaceful and calm, and everything was perfect for once, she needn't sing a lullaby to soothe him, and considering it, she probably didn't have the energy to anyway. Lust sighed, letting her eyelids droop.

Before Lust fell asleep entirely she bowed down, slipping her finger gently under his chin, and planted a faint kiss on his forehead. He groaned at the strange foreign sensation, wearily opening one of his eyes, he stared for a moment, before smiling, flashing his teeth at her, she smirked, so he could still smile like that…

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you…" she murmured, cupping his undamaged cheek to stop his head falling down, Pride pressed against it like he did with Father, his eye sliding shut as he did. "Night night, Pride" Lust cursed inwardly at using such a childish term when talking to Pride, she stayed silent, hoping he wouldn't take offence to her 'insult', these '_maternal instincts_' weren't having the best effect on her, she'd gone soft.

"G…N…nigh…ty night…Lus…" He trailed off, slumping against her, gently slipping back into his bliss filled slumber. Lust let out a sigh of relief, lowering him back down. Still, she needed to correct her little mistake, she had, for a moment, considered Pride to be the age his container implied, however inaccurate, even if Pride hadn't realized it, she couldn't have such a thing occurring in front of Father. She started to close her eyes, glancing at the curled up figure of a once human boy that rested comfortably on her chest and stomach, running her fingers through his unkempt, probably lice filled hair, and she smiled

"Good night…_Big Brother_"

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Poor Lust, Father expects her to cut Pride's hair without scissors…

And hurray! Pride has woken up after 2 chapters of doing nothing! But he's still doing nothing and freaking out over his new body, now all he has to do is learn how to use it.

*rest of author's note will be written later as well…sorry*


	17. A Special Occasion

A/N: Where have I been you say?

Well…let me tell you.

First I got a viral infection in my throat, so, though I wasn't at school I just cant seem to write when I'm ill…anyway when that was over I had to super quickly fix up my cosplay for Eirtakon (was awesome, cosplayed as May Chang so that I didn't need to buy a wig, got a Pride commission by the amazing D-ouble-Helix, she's so awesome, she cosplayed as Edward too for extra awesome, but enough about that).

Aannnd….that's what I've been doing for the last almost a month. I'm sorry; you guys are all so patient while I'm out buying hair extensions and plush pandas…and sewing…

Previous reviewers:

Larsa7:

Hopefully I'll get it done by then, but the way the new plan's going…I won't make an estimate coz I know it'll be wrong…really wrong.

I…It's not me, what I write if p-p-perfectly fine…really… ah well, no more written baths for Pride then… *adds to list of things I shouldn't write for fear of resurrecting Yaoi-fangirl…again.*

There's probably tons more bad words that I just haven't discovered yet =o The list of double entendres never ends…never *needs to watch what she says*

I'm sure there'll be more loopholes I can abuse, just need to find them. :D

I'm not that crazy =0 we had to read about executions in History, this history book just happened to include all the gross details. I actually think fma and Baccano give you sort of a warning, since the first anime of fma starts with Ed and Al's transmutation with all that gore, which kinda gives you a hint of the terrible events to come, and Baccano has that quick little shot of Czes getting his head blown off in the first episode 0_0 So I guess I am pretty crazy for staying around after _that,_ and to think I only started watching Baccano to see who was replacing Al in the fma anime dub (she should be the one dubbing Pride in the FMAB, it doesn't matter if she'd need to talk to herself when they're under that dome, it should be her, not that damn Brit *shot shot shot* sorry sorry, I said I wouldn't rant anymore…but the 'suspense' to see what becomes of episode 32 is…nevermind.)

I don't like many of them either, but a Pokémon based off a homunculus is just *too* adorable to pass up, the soul sucking candle kind of roped me in too, but other than that…well I had a whole rant on how they're getting worse with one of my friend's at Eirtakon.

I think manga is cheaper in Ireland, but I didn't buy any (Yes, I will stop mentioning Eirtakon soon, but someone there was selling 3 manga volumes for 10 euro, too bad all the fma was gone before I got there…). Though I know Arakawa should get some of my money the mangas just too expensive everyone except Japan, but hey, I might be importing the new art book, so that's something I guess.

Aww, it's nice that you've settled in to your apartment after only a month, I'd be really scared moving out of my house and living along, at least you've made people you can call 'friends' so soon ^_^.

I need to start involving Father more in these chapters, because, when I think about it, considering the time period, there's nothing he can be doing besides reading books he's already read! Truth be told I felt like punching him after to told Lust to go away, then I just told myself it was my fault for phrasing it that way. I am curious of his real Amestris business though, hmmm…

Oh well, just give him plenty of water and keep him talking and he'll be fine, being asleep and not talking for eight months can't be that good for him, he doesn't seem to mind that he's changed voices either…strange…

Evil cold water is evil, the idea of having a cold bath in a…metal…clay…porcelin (why did I not think of what material the bath was made of before? *off the think but needs to finish this first* 0.0)…whatever bowl makes me just shudder, poor poor Pride, even after that I make more bad stuff happen to you, right after you had that horrible dream as well…and the lice problem too, like I said to Moofy, he must have been infested after 8 months without a bath.

Father just thinks his children are ultimate geniuses who can do anything ("Cut Pride's hair Lust, get rid of those insects too, how you say? Why, you're a capable homunculus, I made you after all…use your nails, they'll work, forget scissors, your Father's much too busy :DD" whoops, gone a whole sarcastic exaggerated dialogue…sorry) since 'he' made them, just like he thought Pride wouldn't mind getting his eyes tore out because it isn't his body. *shakes angry fist* Plus it upsets Lust a bit with him giving her so much responsibility over little confused newly container'd (what? Yeah, let's call it that…) Pride.

Little naïve Pride's naivety comes in handy sometimes, if he thought for a second that Lust doing those things to him was real, I don't think he'd trust her ever again, since he's the kinda person who lives in the present far too much. And we can't be ruining his relationship with his family so soon.

I know *_* the way I'm making Lust I think I might want a little/big sister too, actually, scratch that, a literal little sister might not be such a good idea. Big sisters or little sisters that look older and act like big sisters are the only way to go. ^_^

I think I need to keep telling myself that Lust's only three years old really, but much smarter of course. You saying 'perfectly normal for women in your age' kinda reminded me XD Lust- the three year old who looks after her 90 year old brother, only makes sense when dealing with homunculi. And yes, no one can resist little Pride, hopefully he won't get too much attention when he goes to Central again, I wonder if anyone saw my little no named boy getting hit by that horse…? Either way a simple 'I got better' isn't going to cover it, especially since Pride didn't know that. ^.^

I'm sure he isn't all bad…when he still has his emotions I mean, I think he just has a bit too much faith in his children because 'he made them', sorta like "I made you Lust I'm sure you can look after Pride, don't worry that he's emotionally unstable coz he won't be coz *I* made him too ha ha ha ha…" God, he's too overconfident for his own good… oh wait…

That being said it wasn't that nice, since he could have taken Pride off her hands and let her rest, but I suppose Lust wants to look after Pride to make up for making a mess of his hair and upsetting him.

No no , it's fine, I don't mind, you write so much I'm not surprised you have other things to do as well, I'm really grateful, many other writers don't get as many…words(?) in all their reviews combined :). I'm sure everyone else who gets your reviews appreciates them too, you write so much, I don't think I could write all that in one sitting :0 .

Moofy-Fan:

Glad to see that my attempts at fluff are still effective, but I hope I don't become too acclimatized to it and that when bad stuff starts happening again (and it *will*) I won't be able to write it ;-; better start practicing on it in horror fic for Halloween that'll be posted in a few days (totally not advertising it in advance…)

I just have to keep throwing bad things at him don't I? Then I get to blame it all on Father ^_^. I actually had forgotten about the bugs living in…_that person's_ hair, wonder how they survived eight months…but if they did he must've had an infestation by the time he woke up…ewwww *shudder* at least Lust fixed it…abit…though now Pride's probably got a phobia of having his hair cut.

I thought he was a little bit nicer than usual, but its still not that good, since he would rather Lust look after Pride than he try to himself for once, but having some emotion is better than having none I guess.

Pride's clothes (or my imagined version of Pride's clothes…maybe I'll post my bad sketches of them on DeviantART sometime soon) are so adorable 3, they're pretty much Father's clothes, only a bit smaller (and yet still far too big for Pride, for all my reasoning I cant think of an excuse Father could use for not making them the right size…) and a perfect shiny white, with the purple sash for…no reason other that to make it look better. (By the way, this is probably going to be added into the previous chapter's author's note but I used the king of Xerxes robe as its…base material (?) because, though Father took it to Amestris, it never makes an appearance in the present day, so this is how I got rid of it ^.^)

Greed will be arriving in… *checks new plan* …6 chapters? Maybe less, maybe more, the 'plan' keeps changing itself like usual XD

Shoushin:

That's what happens when I think Lust trying to badly cut hair will be rather amusing to write, plus I needed to have it cut anyway, to make him look different from poor little M-*shot, he's getting his name soon, really, three chapters I swear…*, at least her misaim ended up making that weird stick-y-up-quiff-y he has on the side of his head (it _switches sides when he moves_… but I'll just say it's on his right side)

You bet, the fluff'll probably last for a few more chapters until I end up doing something terrible, just need to keep making awful things happen to him until his pure little soul turns black, only a matter of time… now I feel guilty…

You didn't read the first chapters first…? That's…a bit odd, but the later chapters are better written so I guess it's ok, since I might have not caught your interest otherwise ^_^ Hope to keep your interest til the end now that I know you've been lurking all this time XD.

0 * 0*

So, after a month…all I have to give you is filler, I'm so sorry, there was supposed to be three, _three _other scenes in this chapters but I'd only managed to write this one and didn't want to keep you waiting.

Arakawa-sensei owns this still….

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Seventeen: a Special Occasion**

**May 21****st**** 1681**

"_Birthday…Lust?"_

Pride raised his eyebrow; still 'chewing' the piece of 'bread' Lust insisted he eat when she had woken him up. Lust nodded, smiling as she offered him more water to drink.

"It's May twenty-first, you've been asleep for the past two days, Father wanted you to be awake for your birthday though, he says he has a present for you. Please stay here until he arrives." She tilted his head back gently, pressing the jug's edge to his lips, waiting patiently as Pride took a cautious mouthful, it seemed he still didn't trust drinking water, and why should he? He had thought she was going to pour it over him again when she offered it him to 'fix' his voice earlier. Nevertheless, he grinned soon after, and was soon taking large gulps from the jug. When he was finished Lust dabbed his mouth with a cloth, smiling once again. Pride frowned a bit as a strange thought entered his head

"What about _your_ birthday, Lust? Your birthday's before mine…right?" Lust's face fell, she gulped, knowing that she should have expected it, but so soon after waking up…

"Oh…you…you were asleep for my birthday, I didn't get anything, but it isn't important, please do not worry about me, Pride, I'm only tw-three…" She stuttered out, nervously adjusting his sash- it'd slipped off his shoulder when she'd woke him up.

"I…missed it? I'm sorry, we…we'll have a birthday for you next time, Lust, really we will." Pride grinned down at her, again flashing his teeth, as if he didn't know he could smile with his mouth closed.

"Please do not worry, you needed to sleep while you adjusted to your container, _that_ was much more important, I'm just h-happy you're awake for _your_ birthday." Pride blinked blankly, glancing down as Lust smoothed her hand over the peculiar, warm cloth that he'd woken up with.

"C-Con…tayn…aah? What's one of those? And… I have one…?" Lust grimaced again, not liking where the conversation was inevitably going,

"Y-your container…the body you're in…"Lust trailed off, not wishing to say any more than that, she didn't want to have to lie to him with that fabricated story of a fake homunculus, and besides, why _should_ he be curious of where his body came from? There was no need; Pride wouldn't care for such minute details…surely…

"'_Body?'_ But…I don't have a body, that's what we were looking for back-" his voice hitched suddenly, he couldn't remember…when did he look for a body with Lust? "back…back…we looked for one…but…I can't seem to remember…Lust…d-d-did we find one?" Lust stared at him, like she expected him to say something else.

"You don't remember? Then…" she smirked, standing back up. She cleared her throat "No, Pride, we didn't find you a body. We returned home the day after, Father put you to sleep, made you a body with alchemy, and placed you inside it. You've been sleeping within it until two days ago, altering the body until it was to your liking." Lust paused for a moment to catch her breath, surprised that she could make something like that up without thinking, but more ashamed that she could lie to her older sibling without so much as flinching. "Father hopes that you will one day be able to control it flawlessly, in order to assist him in his…I mean _our _goals…yes." She stopped again to reassess her _lies_ to see if they were making sense, seeing as they were she continued "so…you are currently living through your 'container', and are clothed in the robe Father has made for you." Lust pointed to Pride's chest, he looked down at her hand, seeing the odd white cloth below him, he didn't understand. Lust stayed silent, resting her hand on the front of his robe, feeling the steady source of warmth radiating from inside, and the weak thumps of the human's quivering little heart, such a stubborn thing, unaware that its feeble attempts to keep its previous master alive were in vain…eight months…no one could survive that long in a Philosopher's stone…it was something no one should experience, certainly not a child…but Pride needed them to exist, and so did she…Lust hoped Pride could not hear their suffering, their venom filled cries of hate, for the one who had imprisoned them there, and the one they were providing the ability to live. Yes… unlike her, he didn't need to be aware of such a thing, just like the origins of his container. She sighed, standing up, Pride's eyes dug into her, filled with confusion as usual "It's complicated…isn't it, Pride? I don't think I can explain it that well…here…" Lust took hold of his sleeve, and pulled it back, revealing the fragile hand buried inside it, she held it up to his face. "See? This is _your_ hand, Pride, isn't that wonderful? You can hold things for yourself now, can't you?" Lust waved it at him, hoping to encourage him to move it himself. Pride's eyes widened, he flinched, pulling it away, before seemingly losing his quick bout of control, it falling limp back into his lap. Pride scowled, hanging his head, for whatever reason he didn't like it, he didn't like seeing that small hand that was his own waving, it reminded him of …something, something he couldn't remember, _what was it_? He shook his head, it wasn't important, if it was he would have remembered it in the first place.

"S-sorry, Lust, c-c-carry on…" He focused on his arm, shakily stretching his hand back out, again completely obscured by these clothes of his. Lust nervously held it again by his wrist, pulling the sleeve away and laying it on the front of his clothes, he didn't move it away, curious as to what Lust thought he would achieve by doing this strange thing, sure enough, there was something inside the cloth, or was that his _body_? It was…_warm_, he sighed quietly to himself, his eyelids sliding shut, was this what it was like, having a body? To always be so warm? There was something else as well, a weak pulsing behind his clothes,

"What is this…Lust? Inside…it's moving." He whispered, digging his fingers into his chest, feeling the pulse become faster as he assumed it to be a bad thing. Lust smiled,

"Why, Pride…that's your h-" She stopped herself, that wasn't Pride's heart, Pride's heart was his Philosopher's stone, which, she believed, would be inside his real body, his real body which he didn't know about, and didn't _need_ to know about. She forced a cough, knowing that, _once again_, she'd need to resort to _lying_ to her confused sibling. "Your…_Philosopher's stone_, Pride. It keeps you alive, but I'm sure you already knew that. Humans have something called a 'heart' instead, in the same place; it works in a similar way. It's nothing to worry about." Pride nodded, his concern melting away, the pulsing returned to its usual pace. "Now, Father will be arriving soon, so, may I comb you hair, _Big brother_?" Pride lowered his hand, placing it on top of his other one.

"I have hair too?" Lust nodded, gently pulling the jagged piece of hair that she'd cut wrong down to his eyes.

"It's very nice Pride, even though you can't see all of it. Black, just like mine, see? But it's not that tidy so…I need to comb it, if you'll let me…" Lust lowered her voice, sounding much guiltier than she intended, but… she knew she didn't deserve to be forgiven for her actions two days before. Without a second thought Pride nodded, Lust lifted a small wooden comb from a shallow pocket in her human attire and walked behind him. "Father will be here soon, please do not worry, Pride." The comb met little resistance, Father must have untangled it and fixed his lice problem while he was asleep, she was grateful for that, at least.

Pride didn't speak as she continued combing his already combed hair, Lust merely passing the time now, patting the top of his head, forcing some of the more rebellious tufts back down. Satisfied, she tucked the comb back into her pocket, it was a simple hairstyle when she inspected it properly, nothing too extravagant, even if Pride deserved better, but he could always ask for a particular style when he looked in a mirror, besides, it wasn't like she could do much with it in its current state. She walked around to his front, picking him up and pulling his legs from under him, letting them hang over the table's edge, if he sat on them too long they'd go numb, Father wouldn't approve, even if he couldn't use them yet. She tugged the bottom of his robe over his feet

"There we go, can't have you getting you getting cold now can we Pride?" Pride didn't answer; looking past her, his eyes tightly squinted, as if trying to focus on something. "What it is, Pride?" Lust cupped his undamaged cheek, concern rising in her voice. Pride glanced at her, his lips curling into a smile.

"Father's here." He slowly raised his arm, attempting to point "look, Lust." Lust turned around, Father was walking towards them, his usual solemn expression stuck to his face; Lust didn't mind it, having only had her own Father as an example of what Fathers were like– it must have been normal, all Fathers were probably like that.

"It must be for your birthday present, Pride. I apologize that I have not brought you one, as I have spent the last eight months caring for you while you were sleeping…and therefore have not visited the world above in that time." Reminding Pride about his somewhat helpless situation would _certainly_ do wonders for his own pride, but at least she was telling the truth _for once_. "However, I will try to help you in any way I can, like I have for the three years of my life, this is what Father has asked of me. But, please excuse me." Lust approached Father, bowing as she was expected to. Father ignored her, walking up to Pride

"I trust Lust has been treating you well, Pride, am I correct?" Pride nodded, glancing down at what Father was holding. "Very good, my Pride only deserves the best treatment. Now, as today is May twenty-first, it is your ninety…first birthday, and though I have long since abandoned the human idea of giving presents to your children…" Father held out his hand, tucking whatever he was holding under his arm, after a moment he reconsidered it, handing the for some reason indistinguishable object to Lust. "…I believe that you require this, so that you may learn to utilize your Philosopher's stone to make your container more…comfortable, and therefore be able to assist me in the near future" the skin of Father's hand bubbled and swelled, a thick crimson liquid pooling in his palm as it split open, rising up and forming into a smooth pebble.

"You are well aware of what this is Pride, it will no doubt be of great benefit to you, I am sure." Father pinched Pride's cheeks tight between his thumb and index finger, forcing his mouth open into an 'o' shape, Pride resisted a whimper as Father pressed into the cut on his cheek.

"F-Father, if I may, Pride is capable of opening his mouth…" Lust whispered, watching Pride squirm slightly as Father reached inside Pride's mouth, stone in hand, pressing it into his tongue. Pride didn't react, allowing Father to do whatever he wanted with his birthday present. Father paused, pulling the stone back out "You can't swallow the stone with your container yet." It wasn't a question, despite the fact that Pride had managed eat that 'bread' earlier, regardless of the incorrectness of his statement, both Lust and Pride knew better than try to correct him. Father turned to the half full jug of water, dropping the stone into it; it sank straight to the bottom. Pride tilted his head in confusion, watching curiously as Father lifted the jug up and tapped at the stone through the glass. It shone for a moment, before dissolving in the water, dyeing all of it a light red. Before Pride could ask if Father wanted him to drink it he found himself wincing as his cheeks were again gripped with Father's fingers; Father pushed his head back and quickly poured the strange mixture of water and Philosopher's stone into his mouth. Pride forced himself to swallow it, Father would be mad at him if he wasted any. It tasted like a Philosopher's stone for the most part, just much, much weaker, he could hardly taste anything, like the stone was much smaller than it actually was. Pride frowned around the jug, he hadn't eaten a Philosopher's stone in over a year, and now he had finally got one he couldn't taste it properly. He sighed after he had emptied the jug of his horribly diluted 'birthday present', bringing his sleeve up to wipe at his mouth, staining the pure white material as he did. Pride gasped as he realized that he'd lifted his arm without needing to focus on it. "I see you can move efficiently now Pride, that is very good." Pride nodded, smiling as he weakly pulled his sleeves back, and held his hands in front of his face, fully examining them for the first time.

Lust watched it all without a word, holding onto Pride's flask protectively, Father had told her to clean it a while ago, all of that_ human's_ blood ruining it when Pride had found him all those months ago, but now it was time for Pride to be given it back, even if he didn't need it anymore, Father said that Pride might like to smash it himself, to show that he wasn't bound to it any longer. Lust could swear she heard some sort of spite in Father's voice as he had said that, but didn't press Father on the matter, it wasn't her place to ask about such things, if Pride wanted to break his flask, then it was his flask to break, he could do what he wanted with it. Lust knew she shouldn't, but if she had no present for Pride, Father had already given him a Philosopher's stone, maybe _she_ could be the one that…

"Happy birthday, Pride." She whispered, inching forward of her own accord. Pride stopped what he was doing, peeking around Father at her, he flashed her a grin like always, but refused to try to wave at her, for whatever reason he didn't like it, but it didn't bother her. Pride's gaze fell on his flask, and he reached out for it without warning, Father pushed him back and held him in place before he ended up falling off the table, grabbing hold of his outstretched hand and using the opportunity to clean the sleeve Pride had soiled by wiping his mouth. "Father…may I-?" Father nodded before she could finish, apparently understanding perfectly, yet far too preoccupied in assessing Pride's robe for further imperfections. After several minutes of altering said 'imperfections', though Lust thought it seemed fine as it was, and couldn't see the difference after Father had done his modifications, Father stepped aside, gesturing for Lust to give Pride his flask. Lust cleared her throat as she kneeled in front of her _big brother._

"Pride." The older homunculus watched her intently, his lips an emotionless line- odd for Pride, Lust thought- less than violet eyes never wavering from the flask in her hands. It wasn't merely curiosity, Lust was sure; it was something much, _much_ deeper than that, Lust couldn't understand it, but thinking about it, she didn't think she could, she was only three years old, Pride had lived inside his flask for thirty times as long, and Pride, as naïve as he appeared, was far older than she was, and always would be, who could know what timeless, profound connection Pride could have with it. Lust froze as she realized what it was, it was his eyes, they were _old_, much older than his container showed, so wise and experienced, so out of place, and yet, at the same time, _not_, Pride's body was simply an act, an illusion, and Lust needed to keep reminding herself that, but… was his naivety an act as well, his innocent queries nothing but a ploy to make his _little sister_ feel better? It unnerved her, somehow, even if it shouldn't. Then it was gone before Lust could even gulp, Pride blinked slowly, his eyes back to 'normal' when he opened them, he giggled to himself, back to his usual self it seemed.

"I thought you hadn't got me a present, Lust." Lust flinched, shaking her head, surely she'd just imagined that, she exchanged a glance with Father, but he just motioned her to carry on, apparently anticipating this 'flask breaking' more than Pride even was. She sighed, what was making her imagine things like _that_? Lust forced a smile, and Pride raised his eyebrow at her, seemingly far from convinced.

"I…I didn't get you a present, this is from Father." She held it out for him, keeping it just above his lap so that he didn't accidentally drop it, Father would never forgive her if she broke Pride's flask, even if he could fix it with his alchemy. "H-here's your flask, Pride. E-even if you don't live in it anymore, Father thinks that…you should have it back…t-to do what you want with it." Pride uneasily took it from her, running his eyes over every part of it, prodding at the corks on the sides, a shadow of a scowl crossing his face when he discovered he was too weak to pull one out, Lust thought it was better she didn't tell him that they'd been replaced, the old ones were soaked through in blood, it was easier than trying to clean them.

"The object you were bound to for so long is in front of you, Pride, what do you wish to do with it?" Father spoke up; Lust stood up and moved to the side. Pride smiled though the flask, magnifying his face with it, after a moment he lost interest, instead holding it to his chest like Lust occasionally used to do, strangely amused with how small he used to be. All the while Father stared at him, something that Lust might assume to be disappointment all over his face. _"Pride." _

"What is it, Father?" he didn't look up

"Do you intend to keep that flask, Pride? You have been confined to it for so long and now that you are free of it, you wish to _protect_ it? Why not smash it? Show how you aren't reliant on it anymore" Pride didn't notice the change in Father's tone, but stared up nonetheless

"You…you want me to… break it…Father?" Pride asked, hurt obvious in his voice, tears prickling at the back of his eyes, yet he still held the flask out over his knees, prepared to drop it should he be instructed to; he'd never question Father's orders, if he even _thought_ of disagreeing with Father's wishes… "If that is what you wish…then I-" Pride's fingers loosened around his flask, slowly but surely pulling themselves apart, awaiting Father's order to separate entirely.

"That won't be necessary, Pride. You may do as you like with your birthday present, I will not disapprove of your decision, whatever that decision may be." Lust could tell Father was forcing it, but it seemed that Pride's temporary happiness was more important to Father than his desire to see Pride's flask smash, Lust didn't see the sense in any of it, but sighed in relief; at least Pride wouldn't be upset, not on his birthday...

"Really Father?" Pride didn't hesitate in pulling the flask back to his chest, forcefully, almost protectively from what Lust could tell "Thank you, F-Father…I will l-"

"Yes, Pride, but we must focus on other things as well" Father pulled the flask away without much resistance from Pride, laying it on the other side of the table "we hope to have you walking soon" Without giving Pride time to question if he could walk Father pulled up Pride's robe, pointing to his feet.

"Walk? I can…" Pride paused to try to wriggle his toes, grinning from ear to ear when they complied "_Walk_! Father, Lust, I can walk on my own two feet now!" Pride blissfully kicked his legs as they dangled off the table's edge, his cheek sparking crimson as he accidentally used his Philosopher's stone, his cut sealing itself up without him noticing in the slightest.

"Yes, that's very nice, but you will not be able to walk straight away, we will need to-."

Pride quickly pushed himself off the table without thinking, after all, Lust could walk just after she got legs, he had had legs for over eight months now, he was just yet to use them, so he should be able to walk without trying. Pride's way of thinking was instantly corrected, his malnourished legs buckling as soon as they touched the floor, his robe sagged around him, and he collapsed in a fluffy white heap. Lust wasted no time, rushing over and lifting him back onto the table without a word, pulling his sash back up around his shoulder for the sake of neatness. "Please do not be so reckless, Pride" Father whispered to him, shaking his head. Pride nodded glumly, hot water burning its way down his cheeks; he didn't try to wipe them, Father wouldn't like it if he ruined his sleeves again.

"I…I'm sorry for disobeying you Father…I should have been patient…I'm sorry…Please…f-forgive…" His head sank itself lower, shivering as he felt Father looming over him

"You should not be so rash…_I_ will teach you how to walk, but first we must ensure your container will allow you to do such things." Pride lifted his head slowly, almost flinching as Father rested his hand on top of it, smiling down at him. "Do you understand that now, my son?" Pride didn't know how to react as Father began ruffling this 'hair' of his, but after a moment or two he began to understand, nodding, it wasn't his fault, and it wasn't Father's fault either, it was just his container, he just wasn't used to using it yet. Yes, that was it; it wasn't his fault _at all_.

"I trust that is to your liking, Pride." The younger homunculus grinned toothily, his tears subsiding as it warped itself into more of a smirk, however inappropriate for who he was addressing, Pride couldn't have realized it, having never formed such a smile before, and replied as he was expected to, using the only reply he should, and would ever use with his creator.

"Yes, of course Father."

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A/N: Sorry again for the filler, it was supposed to be longer but I just didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer, so the other…3 scenes of what was supposed to be this chapter (I'll give you the dates anyway: June 24th 1681, September 2nd1681 and October 7th1681) will be moved to next chapter with the chapter name this chapter was supposed to have, so really this is the filler and next chapter just got put on hold I guess…sorry.

I feel kinda bad that Pride doesn't like waving a people since he can remember a bit of…little one (you know who, though I REALLY shouldn't have brought him up since…now…I…feel….bad…:(…) waving to him before he faded away, being the same physically and all that, but since he does it all the time in the series we know he gets over it…or forgets like he seems to be doing a lot since coming out his coma…

By the way, I have no idea what Pride's little freak out (can we call it that? I suppose not, well 'moment') with his flask near the end, I don't have a clue were it came from, it just sorta wrote itself and wouldn't let me get rid of it 0-0 guess we can cement Pride's attachment to his flask more than I originally intended now… which is…good?

But, on Pride's connection, I might as well elaborate early, Pride really didn't mind living in his flask, the only reason he wanted a body he could use was to help Father, but where does that connect here? Well, since his container could be considered to be just a bigger flask that he can move in, he would probably grow attached to that as well, which is why he values it above all else, and, while he doesn't hesitate to abandon it for another one if his life is at risk, he otherwise won't consider leaving it, since he assumes he'd die if he does, but ignore that ^_^.

Father is different in that he hated his flask, and wanted nothing more than to get out of it, but when he got his Hohenheim body, that was merely another flask to him, and the world was an extension of that, which he wanted to escape by becoming God, he has no devotion to his containers, evident in how quickly he leaves and _eats_ his when Hohenheim damages it, preferring to change form rather than repair it or make another. Since I suppose Father wanted Pride to share his hate for flasks he wanted Pride to smash it up, but of course, Pride isn't like that, and even if he can't remember it well, he knows somehow, that it is important to him, and that it needs to be kept safe even if he isn't inside it.

But if we want to be blunt about it I just think Pride'll look really cute carrying his flask around like a security blanket, but I need to make up a lot of smart theory sounding rubbish to justify it don't I? That's what I always do. XD

Before anyone notices, I don't know why I keep changing perspectives so that it's on Lust, if I were to guess I suppose because she's the only homunculus that is currently not out of their mind (Father's always crazy and Pride doesn't know what anything is).

Hopefully I can update more over the half term ;-;


	18. Learning through Experience

A/N Laaattteeeee! And the subsequent chapters'll probably be super late because I have my exams next week. Just a warning guys.

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-Fan:

Glad to see you still appreciate the filler, it will be gone soon I swear, much more interesting stuff to come, but I just can't fit all these little scenes I want anywhere else D:

And yes, Pride + Security object = CuteCUTECUTE! 3

Father's still being stupid, I really hope he sorts himself out soon; he's ruining all the fluffyness…

I hope that after my exams I can update at a faster pace, since I'm not doing too well anymore, but I know my GCSEs are more important *reluctantly puts fic on shelf until next week*

Larsa7: 

_Psst_…I think you forgot to sign in when posting your review, since where your username is supposed to be is blank… either that or my computer's messed up, sorry, just wanted to see if it's just me…_ANYway_…

No, no it's fine if you're 'late' with the review, you and your English studying it much more important (*reminds self that GCSEs are next week…must revise…*), I'm still just happy you take time to write reviews, I don't mind how long they take :).

I hope Pride fixes his smiling problem soon, since he only started doing it because no one could see when he was smiling with his other body because only his teeth appeared. But it's such a cute little smile it doesn't matter if it's a toothy smile or not (Though when I draw I prefer a normal close-mouthed smile, when I draw toothy smiles it looks creepy…which is fine when Pride's feeling a bit evil…but not for this…)

I know, when I wrote it I thought 'wow, Lust's really lying a lot today…guess she gets it from Father, he's pretty good at that kinda thing'. But it's all for a good reason; Lust just wants Pride to stay innocent…ish.

I just didn't want to keep reiterating that Pride currently had a lice problem, plus eventually he'd end up finding out about them and be grossed out, so Father just…fixed it…maybe he…um…killed them with alchemy ((burned them?), better not to wonder…. And YAY for potential Father-son bonding moment, just don't expect Father to be taking him fishing or anything…*strange mental image*

I didn't really use the word 'tuft' on purpose…I just wanted to stop using 'piece of hair', chapter 16 kinda made me paranoid that I was overusing it… so I chose a different word instead to overuse instead (funnily enough I think I only used it once…) ^^

I don't really think Lust is as loyal to Father as Pride is, since he occasionally doesn't agree with Father in her secret way, but if she even hinted that she didn't like what he was doing then Father'd probably not let her look after Pride anymore, perhaps even kicking her out and turning Pride against her…But since she doesn't know what normal Father's are like she just needs to accept it. :(

Pride + flask…memento…thing = _Adorable!, _^_^ I wonder if it would be even cuter if he held it in his hood…no, that wouldn't be that practical since he wouldn't be able to see if it was safe…

Nah…considering it…I don't think Pride would be such a good actor at that age, since he'd never even seen a human/child before he went to Central with Lust, so I don't think he'd have any idea about how they acted. Lust's just feeling a little low on confidence, since, because he's so much older than her she thinks he might be acting naïve to make her feel better about herself, or, in a more pessimistic view, to make fun of her. Bad-angsty-paranoid Lust, little 91 year old Pride is as innocent as he ever was, we cant' have you feeling bad about yourself, he needs you to help him look after himself, a boy needs a caring little sister ^_^

Most important and currently only keepsake ever…and Father wants him to break it, good thing I made him change his mind, I was not losing the security object potential just so Father could have a moment of reminiscing and feeling smug. Though we are quite the anti-Father…people, I can actually see his reasoning for it, since Father only saw his flask as something that separated him from 'freedom', while Pride saw it as a thing that protected him from the world. Father just doesn't understand that Pride's opinions on it might differ a bit from his own. But at least he wants Pride to be happy more than he wants to see some 'revenge' against the flask, we might actually be getting somewhere with him…

I felt really bad for Pride when he fell of the table when trying to walk, since I knew I couldn't have him magically being able to walk straight away, so I'd need to make him collapse and temporarily wreck his self esteem, I even had to make him cry ;-; he felt so ashamed, ignoring Father for his own 'selfish' desires and embarrassing himself in the process. He was so happy too…finally being able to have feet and legs of his own…to not need to rely on someone else to take him places…But on the bright side at least Father was there to cheer him up and tell him that nothing's ever really _his_ fault (methinks that ain't gonna be so good in the long run)…wait…did I just say Father cheered Pride up…strange…*shrugs*,but at least he's getting more walking practice in this chapter too :D

I tend to worry about the length of the chapters a bit too much, even though I shouldn't, quality over quantity and all that. Glad to see I'm stopping you from 'dying from boredom' from your English studying ^_^

There will always be rubbish theories, I'm sure I've got tons up my sleeve for the later chapters. And yes, one of the benefits of making young Pride as innocent as he pretends to be is that I can make him do all sorts of childish things and just say it's normal, which means much more cute little moments, with him being a baby inside I don't even need to think of an excuse most of the time too, which is nice ^_^ But that won't stop me from trying to justify it with my loopholes XD.

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Happy bonfire everyone (do they celebrate Bonfire in anywhere other than England…I don't think so…well, happy bonfire anyway.) Sorry about being late as always :(

Anyway, hello everyone, this is going to be my last update for a little bit (I think) because my GCSEs are coming up next week and I kinda need to revise for them. Luckily, I am very excited to write the next chapter so if all goes well the chapter might actually be added early (well, early in comparison to my current updating speed…)

So, in this chapter little Pride is going to learn how to read and write, just as Father said he would back n chapter…6? All of…1645-1681…36 years? So much for Father's 'soon'.

Arawaka-sensei…Why do I need to keep saying this? …Arawkawa sensei owns Fullmetal Alchemist…

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Eighteen: Learning through Experience**

**June 24****th**** 1681**

The round piece of glassware shimmered in the unnatural lighting of Father's lair, teetering this way and that atop the uneven black blob, the owner of that blob smiling so contently, his face beaming in overconfidence, possessing not a single flicker of uncertainty- perhaps he was finally becoming his Father's child after all.

"Father…Father, look! I…_I'm doing it!_" The ninety one year old homunculus called out, keeping his head perfectly straight, his arms outstretched at his sides, occasionally reaching up to confirm the fragile glass was still in its correct position, raising his legs far higher than needed, before taking a wide and no doubt overbalanced step.

"You would walk much better without that, one simple miscalculation and your flask will break, Pride, not that you can't survive without it now...but I am _well_ aware how much you cherish it…" Father's spite fell on deaf ears, ever since his birthday Pride hadn't let that flask out of his sight, carrying around with him in the most impractical ways, often refusing to so much as let go of it, or- like now- placing it on his head- however precarious.

"I…I won't fall Father, please don't worry about me," Though Father could see Pride's naïve reasoning for desiring to keep it so close to his _real _body, even if he wasn't fully aware of it, that still didn't make it particularly sensible "a-after all…You-" Pride put too much weight on one foot, and he toppled to the ground as gracelessly as he could, the material beneath his robe creaking in protest as he curled up in a ball. Father didn't react, his eyes slowly following Pride's _precious_ flask as it tumbled off its owner's head- it would no doubt shatter once it hit the floor- Pride would be rather upset- but Father reasoned, that in time he would forget _all _about it.

Pride had since attempted to cover his ears with his sleeves; he didn't want…he didn't want to hear the noise of his mistake it seemed. Father tilted his head curiously, waiting for the sound Pride didn't wish to hear to reach his own ears.

Any moment now…

What _was_ keeping that flask? To Father's knowledge gravity did not operate _so_ slowly. He looked up over Pride's curled up little container.

"Th-that was close, wasn't it, _Big brother?_" Father narrowed his eyes; of course, she _would_ be the one to risk life and limb for something so insignificant, and just to keep Pride amused for a few more minutes. Lust retracted her fingernails slowly; the weight from extending them over twenty feet had made her fall over, she held the seemingly unharmed flask to her chest, examining it for scratches and what not.

"Lust…" Pride picked himself up, stumbling blindly towards her, the tight makeshift braces constricting his legs keeping him walking straight, but doing nothing to help him walk, after a few steps he tripped over his robe, choosing to crawl the rest of the way rather than try to walk again. "Lu…Lust…Give it back…"

"B…But, it might smash, I know how much it means to you and I…I don't want to see you unhappy, Pride." Lust inched away as Pride tugged at her dress in an attempt to lift himself up "Please, I can look after it; I did back then, didn't I?" She smiled, helping him onto his feet with her spare hand, ruffling his hair when he eventually managed to stay standing. "Go on, you practice walking again, I'll watch from over here, why don't you hang on the sides of Father's chair?" Pride raised his eyebrow at her, shaking his head

"Father's chair isn't for that."

"On Father's table then?" Pride stared for a moment, considering it, he nodded, grinning toothily at her, before hurrying off to the table, his legs continuing to fail him on occasion, but without the worry of his flask, the homunculus didn't seem to mind it, far too determined to be able to walk to notice.

Lust watched him silently, as he inched along the side of Father's chair, his frail arms managing to grip the edge when his legs collapsed, picking himself back up with them with twice as much confidence; it was sometimes difficult to imagine that he was still her brother, even after so long, she was always one to cling to the past. Still, she supposed, she'd get used to it eventually, maybe even forget about those first three years, Pride didn't talk about them much, like he too, wanted to forget.

Pride turned around, checking up on his flask, Lust held it out for him to 'inspect', seeing it was still in good condition he glanced up at her, she smiled, winking at him out of habit, Lust knew he didn't understand what it was, he probably thought she had something wrong with her eye. Yet, he smiled back, pushing himself away from Father's table, swaying slowly as he balanced himself, the pure white sandals Father had made for him clacking noisily against the ground. He stood, for a moment, before raising his hand above his head, he flashed her his toothy grin again.

_And waved at her._

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**September 2****nd**** 1681**

"P..Puh…Ruh…Ihh…Duh-"

"_Properly_, Pride, only _children_ use such simple methods of pronouncing words…" Father scolded with the same cold tone he'd been using for the last three months, one would think Pride would pick up spelling much faster than he learned to speak- Father did his best to repress his memory of _those years_, Pride certainly had done so.

"Yes, please forgive me…um…Pii…Arr…Eye- no…_Aii_…Dee…Eee…Pride." The young and apparently still illiterate homunculus ran his finger over the letters, sounding out each one like he was supposed to.

"Now this." Father pointed to the word below it, this one was…twice as many letters, Pride gritted his teeth together, recognizing each letter, but unable to simply pick out what they meant when put next to each other, try as he might he needed to say each letter by itself to even be able to guess, and apparently even _human children_ could read properly before they were ten, and he was _ninety-one. _He shook his head, this was important; he couldn't just give up, not with Father watching.

"Huh…Ohh…sorry…Eigch…Ooh…Emm…Yuu…Enn…See…Yuu…Elle…Yuu…Ess…Hom…Homun…Homuncu…lus?"

"Very good. Now…that's enough reading for today, let us practice writing." Father walked off, transmuting a board of what he called 'slate' for Pride to write on, Pride pushed himself slowly off his stool, and cautiously tiptoed toward the half formed board, ignoring the fact that his leg braces still nipped at his skin occasionally when he bent his knees. The alphabet was already formed on the slate, spaced out to give Pride room to repeat the letters below them.

"First, is the alphabet, duplicate all twenty-six letters, Pride, 'A-Z'."

"'_Ay to Zedd'_…" Pride murmured to himself, scanning over the neatly written letters, he knew most of them, but Father had wrote them, how could he hope to write as flawlessly as him? Knowing better than to sigh he picked up a small piece of chalk from the board's edge, and began to uneasily tap underneath the symbols he was hardly able to completely comprehend after three months.

"First the _'A'…_" Father dictated aloud to him, as if he didn't believe Pride could write them in the correct order, the deceptively young looking sin slouched slightly at the thought, trying as well as he could to manipulate the chalk as well as Father had his alchemy when writing the letters, but only producing an uneven mess that barely resembled an 'Ay', Pride continued on to the next letter without a word, biting into his lip.

"And now the '_B_'…"

"Yes, yes that's it, now, now; _curl_ the _'C'_ around…" Father didn't seem to mind his poor excuse for writing, even if Lust's was just like his, did Father not expect him to be able to do any better?

"D, E, F…" Pride couldn't think properly, he was making assumptions he had no right to make, he rushed onto the 'Jee' before Father had instructed him, the chalk barely making a mark on the slate anymore.

"And now the 'G'…" Pride tried to focus, staring at the different swirls and curves of the 'Jee', he didn't look at his own writing as he tried to emulate them. He shakily glanced down, and smiled a bit, it looked much better than the rest, still paling in comparison to Father's, but at least it actually resembled what it was meant to be.

And then he saw it.

The chalk slipped from his fingers at the revelation, he felt as if his Philosopher's stone 'heart' was sinking deep into the stomach of his container, his eyes squeezed themselves shut.

The 'Jee' was backwards.

…It was_ backwards._

Father had taught Van Hohenheim to write, whenever he used to make a mistake Father would call him ignorant and stupid, Father said that he sometimes felt like slapping him, even if he couldn't back then, for whatever reason. Pride trembled, would Father do that to him? Would Father call _him_ stupid, and ignorant? Would Father _slap_ him?

"Pride…your _'G'_ seems to be incorrect." Pride heard him murmur, he didn't want to look, but Father would be even angrier at him if he thought he was ignoring him.

"I'm sorry, Father, I…I haven't matured at all, I just…I can't learn properly…you must be ashamed of me…I'm sorry." Father shook his head, leaning down to pick up the chalk. He dusted it off, before holding it out for him.

"Why should I, Pride? I do not expect you to learn so quickly, though you may be far older than any educated child being taught how to read and write, and though you have observed me working for many years now, you yourself have only been learning for three months- and in a new body no less- you are unique, the first homunculus I chose to create, but you cannot adapt so quickly, you will be able to one day, but not now."

"But Father-" Pride began to object before he could stop himself, how could Father be so sure?

"_One day_, Pride, it isn't a guess, nor a presumption, it's a _promise_, and when have I lied to you before?"

"You haven't, F-Father, you would never…you would never-"

"Yes, of course I wouldn't." Father began rubbing at Pride's head, smiling "Now, we mustn't dawdle, much to do"

"Yes, Father" Pride slowly reached for the piece of chalk, flinching as Father pulled it away.

"You're left handed, Pride? That…that can't be right…oh, of course it can't…" Father chuckled a little for a reason Pride didn't understand, "But, on a serious note, this explains why you can't write properly, as you are well aware you are a part of me, and therefore…you should…" he pulled up Pride's other arm from its sleeve, pressing the chalk firmly in his palm, and he curled his fingers around it out of some sort of instinct. "…use this hand to write instead."

Father held onto his wrist, and directed him to the slate, underneath the _'Eigch'_ .

"Likethis."

Slowly, gently, Father began to force Pride's hand around like a quill, writing the _'Eigch'_, then the _'Aii'_, then the _'Jay'_ and the _'Kay'_ and the _'Elle'_ and the…

"Do you understand? You see- once again- it wasn't you, it was your container, but worry not, soon you will be able to use it flawlessly, without any issues at all." He let go of Pride's hand, allowing him to write the _'Ooh'_ and _'Pii'_ and the rest by himself.

"Yes, of course, Father." Pride was doing rather marvelously, his newfound confidence, or, dare Father say it, _pride, _had seemingly done wonders for his handwriting, the almost-Prideful little thing pushing himself onto his tiptoes as he moved onto the _'Que'_. Father stepped away

"How do you spell _'Father'_, Pride?"

"Eff…Ay…Ef- sorry- Tee…Eigch…Eee…Arr…Father" Pride pointed at each letter as he spoke with his now spare left hand, finishing up said 'Arr' as he did so, writing the 'Ess' without so much as a pause. Father wondered if learning to write so quickly was normal, well, he was _his_ child, he _should_ be a rather quick learner, perhaps he knew how to all along, and it was his mistake of using his left hand that had hindered him.

Pride had finished now, and Father caught sight of him scribbling something in the corner of the board, when he saw Father staring at him he giggled, shyly hiding his face with one hand, but he obediently let him see.

There, in perfect, neat writing, writing almost the same as his own, was one word, but Father couldn't help but smile.

"Pride" the younger sin announced to whomever would listen, he covered his mouth as he realized how loud he was being "I…I would write more…But… I don't know how to spell 'First', and…without that… How could I write…" Pride glanced around, as if he was embarrassed to finish his sentence "How could I write…"

"_The First Homunculus?"_

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**October 7****th****1681 **

"It's…Blue?"

"Incorrect, Pride, this is _orange_," Father pointed to the fire coloured piece of paper again, insisting that it was 'orange' "and _this_ is blue." Father lifted another piece of paper, this one apparently 'blue', it was nothing like the 'blue' Pride was used to, he didn't understand how Lust could have made a mistake with her colours, but surely Father could not be wrong about something he thought would be so simple. Pride decided it was better not to think about it, and agreed with him like he should.

"So this colour is…?" Father once again lifted the paper that was coloured like fire

"Orange."

"And this…?"

"Blue, Father"

"There, now that we have corrected _that_ little error…" Father transmuted more paper on the table he and Pride were currently sitting around "I thought we could practice drawing, after months of arduous studying I believe you deserve to do something creative for once. Would you like that?" Pride didn't reply, digesting the choice carefully, staring into his flask sitting neatly in its holder next to him, he patted the top of it absentmindedly.

"What's '_drawing?'_" Pride carefully dipped his miniature quill in his ink-stone, preparing to write the spelling and definition of the new word.

"Ah, drawing…um…DeeArrAyDubble-YuuAiiEnnJee…is that how _you_ say it, Pride?" Pride nodded with a smile, scribbling down the word in the middle of his paper. "It's…making pictures on paper, or any material you can write on, like those circles in my books? Those are drawings." He nodded again, transcribing most of Father's words as well as he could.

"I…I'd like that, Fa…" Pride paused as he heard something, swiveling himself around his stool, searching out the noise's location. It was coming from the new entrance to Father's lair; this one was on the other side of the room from the other one, Pride didn't know where it lead, but it had more than fifteen wide steps leading up to it.

"Lust's back! Oh, um…Please excuse me Father, may I…?" Father nodded, ushering him away with a slight wave, Pride didn't wait for anything else, picking up his flask and happily bouncing off with a strength that would have been considered impossible for his scrawny bound legs.

Father wanted him to walk upstairs, he'd been practicing, but Lust had promised she'd come home from her visit to town through that entrance instead today, just so he could practice walking upstairs to greet her. Pride wanted to show her the pictures he'd drawn, but he could do that later, he supposed, and maybe she could draw something as well.

Pride stumbled a few times, but regained his balance before he fell over; he held tight onto the banister of the stairs, he knew that he was in no position to try to run upstairs.

"Welcome back, Lust!" He shouted up at her, he couldn't see her yet, but her pattering little footsteps echoed from behind the large doors. He smiled, stopping at the top to catch his breath, glancing to his side he saw that Father was also making his way up the stairs.

"Nice to see you return home, Lust, though I hope you haven't brought any more boys this time…" Pride didn't know what Father was talking about, but discarded the thought as the doors started to creak open, he began to wave through the crack in the door- Lust always liked it when he waved at her.

"Lust, look, I walked-" Pride's eyes widened, his hand slowing and falling limp at his side.

That wasn't Lust…

That wasn't Lust_ at all_

It was a human, and a small human at that, smaller than he was…

The girl stared at him, blinking in curiosity as she pushed the door open wider. Pride just stared back, fingers unconsciously tightening around his flask, trying not to make a sound. Stepping out politely, she smiled at him, clearing her throat and putting her finger against her bottom lip in exaggerated confusion.

"Why, Hello there, and who might you be?"

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Just so I don't forget, I'd like to say that Pride's thinking of each word as it' pronounced (so A = Ahh/[lowercase]Ay[uppercase], B = Buh/Bee C= Cuh/See…etc.) luckily Father isn't letting Pride use lower case so I suppose reading it will be a little easier…?

Pride's writing of the alphabet was quite inspired the Disney's adaptation of _The Sword in the Stone_, where Archimedes is teaching Arthur how to write, so in reference to that I had Pride write his 'G' backwards ^_^

Yes! Pride has been corrected on his blue/orange problem! _Finally,_ the solution to my throwaway joke from _chapter 8_ has finally been resolved _10 chapters later!_

I hope to update quicker, well after my exams I do.


	19. The Trivial Affairs of King and Country

Main exams over for now, got a business test and a doctor's appointment next week but that doesn't matter, the chapter I've been looking forward to writing for a while is here! And not as late as I thought it would be!

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-Fan:

I'm not even trying to write another multi-chapter fic while writing this one, since I know I wouldn't be able to keep up with it, and I'd probably end up using the same ideas twice on accident. I can empathize with the update thing, but I'm sure your fans (me included) are very patient people ^_^

Making him act stupid yet innocent works wonders I swear. I just try to keep the fluff going, but the fluff train will be falling off a cliff very soon… (the little hints of his growing pride are signs of something bad, I can feel it). I had him first be left handed since there's no one left handed in the series (not even Greed, who you'd think from being the black sheep of the homunculi would be different from Father), since I'm left handed and write terribly with my right hand I thought Pride might be very capable of writing but just made a mistake when picking up the chalk for the first time. Yes…me adding that 'first homunculus' thing made me go 'aww' and then '…_no_…', it's like I didn't even notice what I'd done, I don't want innocent Pride to go away, no, come back, we…we have philosopher's stones!

Hahaha, another OC, how terrible am I, hope she's ok, well, I won't spoil the chapter so I'll just stop here, though it's nice to see I can still give my fans a few surprises here and there on occasion ^_^

Larsa7:

sometimes signs me out too, but even if it happens again I'll be able to tell it's you ^_^

My English and Maths are done now until summer, I hope I did ok, my handwritings a mess and my attempts to make it neat just wasted more time. ;-;

I don't think Pride or Lust have much chance of not learning to lie, since most of their lives are based on deceit, not to mention Father's dramatic cover up of where Pride's container came from, and Lust acting like a human whenever she goes to town.

Oohh, glass shards X-X this is why I try not to carry anything made of glass ever, but dish material can be as bad, once I dropped my grandma's dish, it smashed all over the floor, and it was _her_ grandma's dish, so about 50 years old, boy did I feel guilty -_-

More fluffy Father Pride bonding…hmmm…I'll think about it, since the fluff is going to be running out soon, wonder how many cute scenes I can fit in til then 0_0''

I like the way you put theme for some reason, I just imagined myself trying to pitch chapter 18 _'Today's chapter is about… learning how to read and write! No wait don't go, it's cute I swear…and it you don't like cute, little Pride says something unintentionally creepy near the end!_' Strange thoughts of mine…ignore them…

I had lots of trouble learning the French alphabet coz of the pronunciation differences -.- though one of the people just couldn't spell his name, and by the time he'd learned it everyone in the class knew it better than their own names…

I do love how we are so lenient with little Pride, "oh look how cute…but what an idiot, holding his flask like that, but its cute so it's all ok! :D" and Lust's half dive to save Pride's flask, it is not good that I imagine that scene with a dramatic 'noooo' with slow-motion as well, way too over dramatic for Lust doing as she's supposed to ^_^.

Pride just seems the kind of person who would revere his Father's _chair_ as much as Father himself, his selfless loyalty is wasted on someone like Father who doesn't pay enough attention to him. Don't worry Pride, in *checks year* 231 years you'll be given a mother to love, and she'll care for you, I know it's a long wait but…

It is not good at all that he is forgetting them at all, I don't think he even wants to, he just _is_, [over-dramatized lies] his tiny baby body can't hold all that information! ! [/over-dramatized lies, don't take me seriously on that]. I hope he doesn't forget everything, he'll probably need some of it in his reference to how children, and to cheer him up when killing people just aint gonna cut it.

Pride wearing Father-esque sandals amuses me so, since they're white and would clash horribly with his black leather leg braces, good thing his robe covered them up. I don't think him forgetting about little no name (I just realized his name's getting revealed next chapter! 0=) is that good of a thing, since, while he isn't afraid of waving at people, he won't remember how nice he used to be or how nice humans were to him once he turns evil.

There's a belief that homunculi don't have genders? 0_0 *envy doesn't count* Thinking how to write out the phonetic letters was hard, especially asking other people what they thought ('Grandad…if letters were words how would you spell them out?'… '…what?' *facepalm*). Looking back I think 'eigch' should have been 'aych', since it has 'ay' in it…wait… *too confused* We all empathize with Pride on this one…

Like I've belatedly added to the author's note because I forgot to add it, I based the scene off Disney's version of the 'Sword and the stone', in the scene Archimedes tries to teach Arthur how to write cursive, and he writes the 'G' backwards, Archimedes gives him a right scolding, and I was actually considering Father do the same, but I thought that doing such a thing would ruin Pride's opinion of him, so I changed my mind, and thank God I did, I don't think the chapter would be finished now if I'd stuck to that idea. Pride's loyalty is just too cute, and it makes a great wild-card excuse for absolutely anything, though I have not been forced to use it so far, lets hope it stays that way ^_^.

Hints of Pride's evil personality scare me…or rather, unsettle me a bit, I don't like thinking that I need to utterly destroy this cute innocent little image I've been building on for…17 chapters… I'm sure it'll be fun writing evil pride, but every chapter I write I know I'm getting closer to the real Pride waking up and taking over :(.

I just didn't think people would forgive me if I let the colour mix up plot thread dangle, so I had Father fix it, Lust's teensy oversight made Pride undergo a mind-screw over a year later…at least she had good intentions…

I guess Pride wants to learn everything too, like Father like son I suppose, at least his enthusiasm in learning sorta crossed over into his Selim Bradley disguise, his tutor must have the easiest job in the world (except when he wants to go outside and see Edward Elric *cough* totally not going to help Wrath and Gluttony out when Ed's trying to lure Scar out *cough*).

Another OC *gasp*? ! All shall be revealed in a few…lines? I won't give anything away here. Though, I do wonder who you believe will be eating her, since there are no chimaeras, Pride isn't his evil self and Father and Lust don't eat people. But I will stop now and let you read the chapter XD.

0*0

Now, another OC has appeared, despite my hypocritical dislike for OCs, hope she's ok…

Arakawa-sensei, *yawn* is in possession of this wonderful little series, definitely not me.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Nineteen: The Trivial Affairs of 'King and Country'**

"My, aren't _you_ a strange little thing…I never did believe father's stories about the supposedly important people living downstairs, but now…" Pride shuffled back, trying to distance himself as much as he could from this small human that certainly wasn't Lust, his feet became tangled in his robe, his legs snapped backwards, bending in a way Pride wasn't aware was unnatural as he tried in vain to keep his footing, he stumbled, but strong arms folded around him, breaking his fall. He looked up; Father was there, giving him a reassuring smile as he lifted him back onto his feet. Pride latched himself onto Father's body, grabbing small fistfuls of his robe, his flask resting uneasily on his arms. Father pulled him gently to his side, giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze, one so faint that Pride at first didn't believe that he'd even felt it, but he had, and he appreciated it more than anything else at that moment, he needed something to distract him from what was happening- and Lust wasn't here to do so.

"I could ask you the same question. Who, pray tell, are you?" The girl wrinkled her nose a bit at Father asking her the same question, as if she thought it was obvious, before frowning, twirling a strand of her hair- hair the same colour as Father's- nervously between her fingers

"F-Father hasn't told you about me? But…but he said..."

"I thought I told you not to run off… " Another voice called from out the doorway, a low, deep voice, it reminded Pride of how Father's used to be when he was younger, but Father's voice was the only thing he could remember from back then- he had never thought about there being anything else.

"F-Father!" The girl turned on her heels instantly at the voice, running back through the door. "Th-these people…they…they…"

"Hush…now calm down Sylvie, you know mother didn't want you coming with me." Another figure emerged, forcing the girl to walk backwards, he ushered her back into the room, careful not to drop the basket around his arm "I have important business with…" he looked up, smiling as his eyes fell on Father "Ah, there he is now." He passed the girl the basket, and walked closer to them, Pride saw something shining on the top of his head, he couldn't see it properly, but his feet didn't budge, it was far from worth the risk of leaving Father's side. Pride thought he heard Father laugh quietly to himself, but he didn't have time to ask, Father walked forward without him, Pride reluctantly let go, his legs shaking as he tried to keep his balance in his current situation. Father approached the strange human as though they had been acquainted before, Pride wasn't sure what to think, Father didn't know any humans…Father said he didn't associate with insects…

"Welcome, Sixth King of Amestris, how many years has it been now? Ten? Twenty?"

"Twenty years since the 'civil war' in Cameron, to the month in fact, we last met just before, so it's still twenty years, give or take a month or two. I am sorry for having disturbed you, I am well aware that I should have waited for you to first approach us. However, I am in need of your advice on-"

"Who is the female child?" Father pointed to the girl, who had opted to timidly hide behind the 'king of Amestris', Pride scowled at her, how _dare_ she imitate what he had been doing. She didn't see it, avoiding his gaze, seemingly unsure of what to do with herself.

"Oh…T-This little one is Sylvie; she's seven years old now." the king turned, whispering something to her, she stepped out from behind him, clinging to his side "Actually, that is what I wanted to ask you about. You see-"

"I have yet to introduce _my_ child." Father interrupted him again, turning to face Pride, he gestured him to come closer "Pride, _come here._" It wasn't a request, Pride nodded, obediently walking to Father's side "This is Pride, he is _ninety-one_ now, you will respect him as you respect me, wont you, _your highness_?" a hint of anxiety crossed the king's face, he forced a humble smile and nodded, bowing a little in their direction.

"O-Of course," the king looked at him, bowing and nodding again "It is very nice to finally meet you, Pride" Pride didn't reply, was he allowed to talk to humans? Would Father even approve of such things? He remained silent for the moment.

"Shall we humour these humans for the moment, Pride?" Father whispered to him, the king stood unfazed, apparently used to Father ignoring him on occasion, Pride considered it, his fingers drumming quietly against his flask, the sound muted slightly by his sleeves, he nodded slowly, he supposed that perhaps 'humouring' them would make them leave quicker, which could only be a good thing. "That's a good boy, now, first you must…" Father lowered his voice further as he explained what Pride was to do in his 'humouring' the 'female human'. When he had finished he ran over what he was supposed to say and do in his head, while Father stood up straight.

"This won't do, we must have an official introduction" Father clapped sharply once, twice, bringing the two humans out of their polite and reserved daze "our children deserve nothing but the best! Or have your standards dropped a few notches in twenty years…?" Pride pulled his hood in front of him, lowering his flask gently into it, and tucking it back behind him with a quiet discreetness, as important as he considered it, he couldn't do as Father had instructed him with it in his hands, he hoped it would be safe, but what other choice did he have?

"As you wish. _Sylvie_" The smaller human handed the basket she was holding back to what seemed to be her father, and padded forward, stopping a few feet away from them, as if she was used to doing these 'official introductions'. Pride patiently awaited Father's instruction to move.

"Go on, Pride" Father gave him an encouraging pat on his back, he strode forward, his oversized sleeves swaying as he went, his braces squeaking much louder than he intended. He, too, stopped a little away from her, she wasn't much shorter than him when he thought about it, but just the fact that he was taller than someone…even just one person…even if just a _human_…

"It is very nice to make your aq…aquain…tense…acquaintance, Pride, it is… it is a pleasure to finally meet you" Sylvie tugged at the edge of her dress, pulling it up above her feet and bowing low to him, Pride gathered his thoughts, it was just as Father had said, then he needed to…

"No," Pride approached her, carefully bending one of his knees, sinking gracefully to the ground, his robe pooling around him "the pleasure…" he reached for her hand, a faint pink appearing on her cheeks as he pulled it closer "is all mine…" Pride wasn't quite sure what purpose the next thing he had been told to do could serve, but it was what Father wanted, after a moment, he leaned over slightly, and pushed his lips against the back of her gloved hand- nothing at all like Lust's gloves, these were white, and barely stretched to her elbow, a few seconds passed, he pulled away and looked back up "…_Princess of Amestris_."

"You are…far too kind, Mister Pride." Sylvie offered her hand again, helping him onto his feet. The fathers smiled at their children, both rather pleased at how it all went.

Sylvie had managed to befriend the Sage from the East's son.

And Pride had become an actor.

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"What is an _'Aerugo__', _Miss Sylvie?" Pride asked politely enough, the childish act of regal formality had been dropped almost immediately, even Sylvie- seven year old human that she was- seemed to be well aware of Pride's 'performance', she had brushed it off without complaint, and was at present informing her new 'friend' (Pride wasn't sure if he knew the definition of the word, but didn't feel it was necessary to pester Father for its meaning) of the current affairs of the Amestrian royal family, and its relations to those around it, and while Pride wasn't particularly interested in such things, Father had instructed him to listen attentively to whatever she happened to say, the prospect of Father requiring _him_ to manipulate the humans, Pride smiled at the very thought of being useful to him, and continued to act as he was expected.

"It's a country to the south, Father says Aerugo wants Amestris to protect them from Creta, that's in the west, so…if I marry the Prince…" Sylvie tilted Pride's flask- for once sitting in its holder- around, observing it from every angle she could think of, oblivious to Pride's distress on her touching it, his fingers digging into Father's table, he needed to be polite, he couldn't snatch it away from her, even if she was just a human, she was a human Father needed… "then…I think we can all be friends, I hope so…Father doesn't want me and Mother to involve ourselves in such things, he says we shouldn't worry about it, so I won't, not until I'm older at least."

"What's a…'_mother'_?" Sylvie turned to him, looking as if she thought she had misheard

"What do you mean by that…Pride? Mother is just…mother…_mummy_, surely you must have one too, unless…" her face fell as she thought of the only other prospect, she covered her mouth "No…I…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" She stopped upon seeing Pride's unfazed expression, it confused her to no end, how could someone only a few years older than herself not know about his mother? Unless he'd made himself forget about it, she leaned forward in her stool, softening her voice as much as she could "Did…did your mummy '_go away_'…Pride?"

"I've never had a mother, only Father, and Lust. I don't need one."

"I see…" Sylvie cast her eyes down, resting her hands in her lap. Pride didn't really understand, but used the opportunity to lift his flask from its holder, pulling it away from her and cradling it to his chest as soon as he gripped it properly.

Pride lost interest in his flask far quicker than he anticipated, and set it back down in its holder on _his_ side of the table, lest the princess wish to inspect it again. He pulled the piece of paper he had been using earlier in front of him, perhaps he could try his hand at that 'drawing' that Father had wanted him to do that morning. Without a moment of hesitation he decided he would do just that, dipping the tip of his quill daintily in his ink-stone, he went to his blank sheet of paper; the 'Dee, Arr, Ay, Dubble-Yuu, Aii, Enn, Jee' and half written definition in the corner didn't count. The random mess of dots and lines soon became an unintentional smile, and he smiled back at it, circling it, there, now it was a face. He dipped the quill again, wiping it over the paper, giving his odd little creation a blob of dark hair. He slowly pulled it in different directions, trying to form something that at the very least resembled clothes, glancing over his 'drawing' he reasoned it to look a bit like what he imagined himself to look like, black hair… white robe…he grinned, getting a sudden burst of inspiration. He went back to work.

Twenty minutes later and his little family was complete, he stood happily in the middle, holding the small circle that represented his flask, robe the same colour as the paper flowing over his feet, hair the same colour as the ink decorating his head, Pride didn't know what he looked like properly, but the image he occasionally saw reflected in his flask had given him a basic idea, he liked it. Next to him was Father, standing tall at his side, hands tucked into his sleeves just so Pride didn't need to draw them, he had forgotten to draw in Father's eyes, but it looked fine as it was. Finally, on the other side was Lust, smiling the way she always did, she'd used up most of the ink, her hair and dress nothing but large messy splodges decorating the paper, only her face was clear enough to make out, Pride didn't include his little mistake in that, he'd drawn the lumps in her chest far too large, but had coloured it in to pretend part of it was just her hair. Even if it wasn't perfect, it showed all of them together, just him, his little sister, and his Father, that was enough.

And no _'mother' _in sight.

"That's very pretty, Mister Pride, is it you?" Sylvie was next to him, looming over his drawing, she pointed to Lust "Who's that?"

"That's Lust, she's my sister."

"She looks…nice…" Sylvie replied nervously, stifling a giggle, but seemingly too anxious to point out the flaw in his picture.

"I did it wrong… I didn't have room for the mark on her chest." Sylvie tilted her head to the side in curiosity

"And what mark would that be…Mister Pride?"

"It's a…um…it's like…here, I'll draw it for you." Pride pushed his drying 'painting' aside, reaching for another sheet of paper. He began to draw Lust's mark from memory, was it in a circle? It had five…no, six spikes, and its tail…

Pride shook his head violently, this wasn't right…this wasn't right at all, how had he managed to ruin it like this? It wasn't even in a circle, its wings –which were supposed to be raised above its head- were pulled awkwardly in front of it, its tail –which was supposed to be inside its mouth- was twisted around itself in a small knot. Sylvie leaned over to inspect it.

"Wow, what a pretty mark, Mister Pride, it looks like a lion and a dragon mixed together! Miss Lust must be very happy to have it!"

"No, it's _nothing_ like that…I've done it all wrong, it looks terrible." Pride dipped his quill roughly into the ink stone, sending a few drops of ink spattering over the table, some staining his quill's feather. He hovered over the paper, prepared to dispose of his mistake with a stroke, Father may have not wanted him wasting ink, but Father did not want him to be an awful drawer either. Sylvie pulled it away before he could.

"Well, _I_ think it looks nice, and _I'm_ the _princess_, so if I say it's nice then it _is_ nice."

"You're just a human, Miss Sylvie…your opinion is not legitimate" Sylvie made a 'humph' sound at his comment, noisily dragging her stool away from him and sitting at the other end of the table, he caught sight of her sticking her tongue at him, and did the same back to her without meaning to. He looked away, his face burning with embarrassment at his childish action.

Pride sighed to himself, and closed his eyes, resting his head on his flask lightly. After a few moments he began to hear more clearly, overhearing Father and the king discussing multitudes of things he didn't know about, with Father making strange remarks like '_Oh? 'She's' your wife? So you finally managed to catch her with your bouquets then?'_ and _'how many more do you intend to have? You humans and your desire to have as much offspring as possible…'_ all the while unaware of the king's several attempts to change the topic to whatever he needed Father's assistance on.

"Yes, I would like to have a son to have as my heir…but, you see…my wife does not desire any more children, and I don't think any number of _bouquets_ are going to convince her otherwise on such a matter. But, I have recently received a message from the nation of Aerugo in the south." Pride perked up at the mention of the southern country Sylvie had talked about, he waited patiently for the king to continue "They want to form a peace treaty with our fine nation, my 'less experienced' advisors have assumed that they do not wish to be destroyed by the growing Creta to the west, they have proposed that we unite our countries through…a marriage." Pride heard a shuffling beside him, he opened his eyes, Sylvie was already making her way to her father's side, demonstrating that _she_ was the subject of this conversation, Pride smirked to himself at the idea that the innocent enough human had been eavesdropping on things that she was not to concern herself with. "So, I have come here today to seek your advice, should we accept this proposal?" He stood up, following her. "That is, should we accept this, many economical opportunities will be opened for us, Aerugo is very quickly becoming a popular location of many different imports and exports, the Aerugan royal family has also promised that they will provide us with an unlimited supply of a food that does not grow in Amestris" the king motioned to the basket in his hand, offering it to Father. "This food is a fruit, it is called…" Father showed the contents of the basket to Pride, he wasn't quite sure what to make of it, he'd never seen anything like it before, it was round, and smooth, coloured a light green with a darker green stalk atop it. Pride leaned closer to it, so much so the tip of his nose ended up touching it lightly.

"…a _'Melon'_. This particular melon is said to be one of their finest, grown using a little known Xingese method of …"

Father didn't reply, gazing down at his child's curiosity of the exotic Aerugan fruit

"Would you like to eat some, Pride?" The homunculus nodded without thinking, Father grinned transmuting a knife and cutting out a small piece. Pride stared at it, it was… 'orange' inside, despite the fact that it was clearly green outside, Pride opened his mouth wide, and Father gently squeezed onto his tongue, leaving only the cast off piece of 'skin' remaining between his fingers.

Pride didn't know what to think, no food had ever had a _taste_ before, taste that made his eyes widen, though it was cold, though it was watery -two things that he _knew_ he disliked- the sweetness of it made him forget about that. He smiled, swallowing it, feeling its soft texture slide down his throat without him needing to chew, and cool his warm empty stomach, the refreshing sensation swiftly bled through to the rest of his container. For the first human food he had ever tasted, he couldn't have wanted anything more; perhaps he would never desire anything else. Pride wasn't sure about anything at that moment, other than the fact that he needed to eat more of this 'melon', _now_.

"Well, how is it, Pride?"

"_It…I_…_I want_…" some of the juice seeped out the corner of his mouth, he quickly licked it away, savouring its sweet taste once again, it was far too precious to simply wipe with his sleeve. He paused for a moment, he needed to focus, if he acted immaturely Father wouldn't give him any more of that 'melon' "I mean…I quite liked it, Father, please may I…?" He reached for it before waiting for Father's answer, but Father pushed him away, holding the basket out of his reach and sternly whispering something about at least having some patience and self-control in front of the humans. Pride bowed his head, murmuring a quiet apology, Father was right, of course he was, he shouldn't act in such ways, and even if this was the first human food for him to have a taste, he shouldn't have considered it more important than Father's instruction, not even for a moment...he pushed the thoughts away, turning his attention to the matter at hand.

"Accept the proposal, King of Amestris. I will invite you here in a few weeks to discuss this further, and…please bring more of these Aerugan melons with you, I am sure my child will appreciate it." the king nodded with a bow

"As you wish, I will inform them immediately." He turned on his heels, heading for the stairs "Let us away, Sylvie, we must leave our superiors to their own business." Sylvie nodded glumly, but chose to approach Pride before doing so.

"I suppose this is goodbye, Mister Pride." She pulled the tips of her dress up, as she had when they met but a few hours before.

"Goodbye, Miss Sylvie"

"Your picture really was nice…" Pride thought back to his drawing that Sylvie adamantly adored, while he would be content in never seeing it again. He flashed her his grin, and rushed off without replying, tripping and stumbling as he went, but much too focused to care, he swiftly ripped his _mistake_ from the table, and was soon standing back in front of the now sorrowful princess.

"Then… you can have it, Miss Sylvie, I don't want it." He held it out for her, her face changed at once.

"Really? Wow, thank you, Pride. This majestic Lion-Dragon will be seen by everyone in the castle, I will show all the maids and nurses and servants, and everyone will know it was _you _who drew it, Mister Pride!"

"I'd rather you didn't, Sylvie, you are free to pretend _you_ drew it instead, consider it a gift for…the melon." She smiled at him, still staring occasionally at his picture; she rushed forward, wrapping her arms around him. Pride gasped at the sudden contact, trying to keep his balance with the added weight of the young princess. She let go, stepping away with a slight giggle.

"If you were a _normal _person father would have had you punished for touching the princess, but you're special, Pride, you have my permission." Sylvie raised her dress for a final time, this time meant for Father, and hurried up the stairs from whence she had arrived. At the top she turned around, giving him one last glace, she waved

"See you later."

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Litte miss Sylvie stands no chance against Pride's shota charm!

You ALL know what becomes of Pride's drawing don't you? I know it was cheap but the irony was just too tempting to pass up *shields self from bricks*

Pride's melon related freakout was so not intentional, but babies like sweet food and it makes sense since he'd never tasted real food before (Philosopher's stones don't count)…what? Oh wait I'd better explain this

*que epic callback*

weelll, we all know that when my little no named boy got run over he broke his nose, this damaged something inside it and left him without a sense of smell, as well as a slightly muted sense of taste (as the two senses are closely connected). Since Father didn't bother to see if there was any internal damage in no name's nose this problem goes unfixed, and as a result Pride is unaware of what smelling is, cannot breathe very well through his nose (mentioned at the end of chapter 2 and in chapter…14?) and has an assumption that human food doesn't taste of anything (hence his lack of response to eating bread). But, melon is sweet enough for him to taste it, and as babies prefer sweet things above everything else, as well as it being the first thing he tastes in his container, Pride very very much likes melons; chances are he forced this melon obsession onto Wrath as well. Phew, my reference in chapter 2 finally makes sense now!

Why do melons grow in Aerugo…? Well…it's the country to the south…and it's warmer in the south…


	20. Peaceful Moments of the Night and Day

A/n: I have no excuse why I took so long, writer's block methinks…though I think it might be cos I was scared of how much I'm going to get bricked and shot for what I've made no names…name…be…_yeah_…b-b-but I want you to save your bricks and…bullets for next chapter when I do what I do adequately and justify it somehow… so I'm sorry…? For the name in advance and the chapters lateness. But now that he does have a name I can fully explain how he operates in my head-canon as Pride's container, but that's all for next chapter just before you attack me.

That being said I have seen the new fma movie teaser trailer and…it's a mid-quel, so no Pride, no homunculi at all, and it's not post manga full stop, we shall see how it develops…next summer… Oh and I'm not a big fan of the art style, since I'd adapted to Brotherhood's style the first anime-esque sharpness just puts me off a little bit… But I'm still looking forward to it...

Oh and before I forget, Chapter 11 has finally been fixed, Pride's motivations for 'saving' little *cough cough*… are now in line with the rest of the plot :)

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-Fan:

Sorry for taking so long to update on this one, I kept running into walls despite my overly detailed plan being on the same word document! D:

The bunnies driving the fluff train have caught on to my plan and are putting the breaks on the train, whether or not they fall off the cliff is pending, since I may or may not have cut the break cables…do trains even have those? We shall see when the fluff ends, I say two/three chapters… give or take…

I love Pride acting posh and royal, but since the fluff is coming to an end I guess we won't be seeing much of it anymore…

Yay, mother related call-forwards are always good, Pride saying he doesn't need one, hah! We'll see Pride, we'll see…

Oh, and please don't brick me for the flag thing, the irony was too tempting…and they do look very similar, I will post image evidence! *shields self again*

I am thinking that Pride probably did force Wraths melon obsession upon him, but that's for chapters in the far distant future. And Asdfghj, you say Pride's present self isn't such a bad thing? Hmm…well I guess you're right, and I do need practice writing evil Pride, I can't decide whether I prefer my totally un-canon innocent pride or normal pride, they're both adorable either way.

Larsa7:

I suppose I have to make bad things happen sooner or later, and if I keep making cute things happen then some people might get bored with the fic and not stick around til the end, not to mention I might forget how to write the bad things well. So it's inevitable I guess *apologises early for the awful things that I'm going to put naïve little Pride through*

Yay, only…231 years… wonder how many bad things can happen to ruin little Pride's naïve personality until then, but it's all worth it when you get that real mother of yours, Pride.

The name related pressure is very bad, but hopefully I'll get everyone's opinions on it once it's established properly next chapter, I hope people think it's a suitable name for whatever they imagined *that person* looked like *needs to post those character designs on deviant art eventually*

I kinda meant that it would be bad if he didn't remember how nice humans were until he met Mrs. Bradley, but with Sylvie as his friend he might be able to have a marginally better opinion of them.

The sword and the stone is one of my favourite Disney movies, but I don't have it on DVD either, only on video, so for the reference I watched it on youtube, I might end up reading the king Arthur novels since I really like fantasy things.

The thought of Father and Lust acting like Gluttony and eating people amuses me to no end for some reason :)

I actually kinda like Father being nice, since it makes you wonder whether he's actually being nice for a change or whether he's just pretending so he can look good in front of the humans, in this case at least.

Even I'm aware of how I wasted Pride's childhood in the earlier chapters, but I can't go back and fix them now, though I suppose that makes us dislike Father some more, which is always a good thing.

My imagining of the Pre-military government Amestrian royal family is really weird, somehow less corrupt than the military, and yet everyone (except the children) is in on it, I think, I might go into it later on.

I think Pride would really fuss over how he would be taller than someone when he was younger, since he never really acknowledges how short he actually is in the series, calling Edward 'tiny', however hypocritical it is. So being just a tiny bit taller than a seven year old is a great reason to feel proud ^_^ but not _too_ proud…

Though Pride's royal act is very adorable, I ain't no Pride/Sylvie shipper, not just yet…plus she's engaged to the Aerugan Prince and I don't want to go down a Romeo and Juliet route…_it won't end well._

Why would we _want_ to tell Pride that Father doesn't really love him? ;-; His whole life philosophy is based off that, he reacted badly enough when Ed told him, and he _brushed it off_ then. I kinda just don't feel like making him depressed just yet… and it's not like he can run away with Lust cos of that *quoteunquote* 'region block' his container has that stops him from leaving Central.

It's probably a good thing I never planned to introduced Sylvie, since now *I* can't help but think that she actually is a mummy now XD how my attempts to stay British and use the proper English version of mother have backfired on me.

I think I added that line ("I don't need one") just so I could think in my head "Oh, wait two centuries or so and THEN we'll see who needs what". :)

I actually think Sylvie's politeness will soon rival Pride's politeness in the series, that is it _would_ if they were speaking Japanese, but I'd never waste the chance to try my hand at Shakespearean style talking. It's a good thing she doesn't know Pride's a homunculus, or rather how terrible Pride's going to become when he 'grows up'.

It isn't really Pride's fault he has such a low opinion of humans, since Father told him that they're basically useless, and that Sylvie and the king respect him so much that they don't really care what he says to them, though since Sylvie doesn't know he's a homunculus she's a bit more forward and isn't as scared to speak her mind or retort. But still, ever so slightly, Pride is getting more arrogant, and nothing good can come of that, but worry not, since we can fear it together, but I shouldn't be acting so scared since I KNOW when 'it's' going to happen, I can stop it if I really wanted to, but I know I mustn't for canon's sake. *starts making RIP innocent Pride banner, chapter 3-chapter 2X*.

Oh, me and my oversights have painted the king of Amestris in a less than good light, I forgot to say that Sylvie is an only child, and her Father was rather respecting her mother's wishes in not having anymore, Father's just assuming humans have lots and lots of children. Now everything's ruined and Sylvie's father is now a sexist womanizer, and her mother's a mummy, what a nice family Sylvie has *face-desk* I think I can try to fix this but the damage is done, to rather amusing effect but still.

I actually have never eaten a melon before, so I had to ask everyone what they tasted like, and the most I got was 'watery and sweet', which really helped. -.- But the Japanese melons that appear in FMA are based on the really expensive ones, which are said to be one of the most delicious (and sweetest) things ever, so they must taste wonderful, it's no wonder Wrath insists on buying lots of them.

Father really needs to learn that he can't have it both ways, he wants Pride to be really smart and loyal, but wants him to be naïve and innocent when it suits him *tut tut*.

The Amestrian royal family do have a reason for considering Father to be their social supiriors, since Father _did _help found the country and teach them alchemy, though that doesn't really excuse them invading other countries and stuff.

Pride reacts so nicely to his hugs, since he hardly ever gets hugs off anyone, if he was shown enough love off more than Lust most of the time he might have actually turned out ok.

Yes…I have only 2 OCs…*shifty eyes*, well only 2 are rather important, though the human Lusts kinda likes might make a reappearance soon. I'd like to make a real story one day, but I still need to improve a lot until then, I don't want to be too arrogant or optimistic ^_^

I am planning on drawing out how the ouroboros could end up forming the Amestrian flag if very very badly drawn and exaggerated in places, you know how paranoid I am to explain everything, I'm too much of a perfectionist DX.

I'm glad that people appreciate all the planning I went through in trying to plant all the call forwards I wanted, regarding Pride's senses, among other things, though being my paranoid self I still feel the need to explain it in my author's notes as well in case some people don't notice them XD. I'm happy that people don't think I make this all up as I go along ^_^

0*0

Arakawa sensei…still owns fullmetal Alchemist, I, Attention2Detaille, do not, though I suppose I do own my so-so OCs…but I digress.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Twenty: Peaceful Moments of the Night and Day **

**December 16****th**** 1681**

"You know that it is not wise to eat that _all _the time, Mister Pride" the young Amestrian princess spoke up, never looking away from the paper on the floor

"I wonder why you say that, Miss Sylvie, you are well aware that I eat but once a month, what difference does it make that the only food I eat happens to be melons?" Pride observed her curiously, holding his flask close, eyeing her as she drew the image he would have preferred her to forget about in the last two months, it had become more refined over the weeks, drifting ever so slightly from its original image, warping into more of that 'lion' she insisted on calling it, she had even boasted how her father was going to ask the royal artist to paint it in a portrait and hang it above her bed, Pride didn't know what a _'bed'_ was, but the prospect of his picture being seen by even more people irked him to no end, though he knew it shouldn't have.

"Please do not be ridiculous Pride; you can't survive without food for a month, especially not a boy of your age. I…I just have yet to see you eat anything different" Sylvie looked at him, her expected politeness slipping with the small tiara on her head, she quickly pushed it back up, her etiquette remained absent for the moment, Pride had quickly learned that the princess was far from the meek and shy little human she first presented herself as "But more to the point, you do not understand, eating all that sugar will surely make your teeth rot, and I don't want you to have no teeth, it is _most_ unbefitting for those above royalty such as yourself. Why, Miss Winifred brushes my teeth before and after every meal." Pride absentmindedly popped another slice of melon into his mouth, giving her a quick sideways glance, Sylvie was not one to boast about how her life was extremely privileged in comparison to those she called _'normal people'_, Pride feigned interest as he was supposed to, his act fading from time to time, but they knew what roles they were playing, while their Fathers discussed things they both knew better than to involve themselves in until they were older.

"If you wished it you could very easily _not_ bring me any more melons"

"You know I cannot do such a thing, Mister Pride, your Father has ordered us to bring you a melon every month, if I even_ thought_ of disobeying him the whole country could be in peril! We depend wholly on your Father's support; he _is_ the Sage of the East, you know that." Sylvie scribbled over her paper, making fine adjustments to her picture "And besides, what would we do with them? Aerugo are more than happy to give them to us, if we are nice to them it'll help fortify our eventual peace treaty with them, at least that's what Father says. But still, eating new things once in a while will be good for you; change is almost always a positive thing, I'm sure of it."

"What other food would you suggest, Miss Sylvie? Most of your food has no taste at all; I know not how you humans eat as much as you do, surely you should tire of it." Sylvie shook her head, pushing herself onto her knees and carefully folding her picture up, placing it into the basket she'd brought the melon in.

"Your taste-buds fail you, Pride." she paused upon seeing his lips twitch in the beginnings of a frown, pulling a strand of her hair forward and twirling it between her fingers, from what Pride could tell it had been combed by that 'mother' of hers today, running smoothly down her back, a sign that she'd actually received permission to visit him today, and had been prepared for the occasion, not at all like their first meeting, she said her Father was useless at combing hair. She forced a smile "B-But if I were to suggest another food for you to eat…I would…it would be…" Sylvie brought her finger up to her mouth, pulling her bottom lip down, pouting as she tried to think of what she could suggest that would satisfy Pride's picky nature, a suitable choice eluded her, she sighed "…I will think of one later." The homunculus smiled at her, Sylvie could see a hint of smugness in that smile, a developing smirk no doubt- he thought he'd 'won', she reflected it right back at him, how foolish he was being, their little 'argument' was far from complete, she was merely…biding her time.

Lust sat casually on the edge of Pride's table, the king of Amestris on a stool at her side, Father was busy with something or other as usual, not that she minded. She observed Pride and his 'friend' play with caution, children were far more innocent than adults, but children could be cruel, and she couldn't risk Pride getting corrupted by some _human_.

"He's quite the polite child, isn't he?" Lust jumped at the sudden voice, but sneered at the king's attempts of trying to start up conversation; if his business was with Father then what right did he have to speak to her? She thought better of not replying, halfheartedly putting on her human act, however out of practice she might have been.

"Quite, but please do not assume his age at a glance."

"Is he yours, Miss? I am correct in assuming he got that hair from you, am I not?" Lust just stared at him, blinking in disbelief; she scowled, narrowing her eyes

"_No_. He is _not_ 'mine', he is my _older _brother, how could you even…?" She glanced over at Father, and grimaced at the implication "Just because my name is 'Lust' that does _not_ mean I…" she covered her mouth before she said something Father would not approve of, clearing her throat "and besides your highness…do you not remember? Last month…it was my fourth birthday, that is why Pride gave me the melon you had brought -as birthday present- he promised back in May that we would celebrate it." Her birthday had been rather uneventful, despite all of Pride's attempts to play games and 'discuss' things, Father was having none of it, saying that he had important business to attend to and they needed to be quiet, he had quickly shooed Sylvie off after she had brought Pride's second melon, but Pride seemed to be content in simply seeing the Amestrian princess again, giving Lust his melon instead- saying that he could wait for the next one. She had declined the offer of course, insisting that he eat at least half since it was intended for him, but the fact that Pride had given her a birthday present, when she hadn't given one to him for his…

"Quite, it was a most… enjoyable event, even if I was unaware of the occasion."

"He was so happy that you and your daughter came back, you know, that you kept your promise. He is an innocent soul, purer than a child, but far wiser than any human could ever hope to be, of course he is, so much is quite obvious. However…" Lust glared at him through the corner of her eye, no need to turn, it wasn't worth the effort "His innocence means that his mind is, for the moment, naïve and fragile, you will not be doing anything to upset him or I'm afraid…." She extended her fingernails "…someone may find themselves in a most unfortunate situation; Father would certainly not be pleased if something were to happen…"

"Yes, I understand p-p-perfectly, Miss Lust, the Amestrian royal family has served your Father for almost two centuries now, we would never dream of doing such things to his own family." She didn't retract her nails, waving them aimlessly in front of her face, the king stood up, straightening out his robe "Well then, I had best be off, I apologise profusely for my unreasonable assumption, I meant no offence I assure you."

"None taken, your highness" she was lying through her teeth "I look forward to seeing you and your daughter in the near future, I am sure that it will make Pride very happy, we don't want him growing up too quickly now," Her fingernails clicked together in a snipping motion _"do we?"_ He inched even further away.

"I really must be going, Miss Lust." He turned away from her before she had time to reply, hurrying away to collect his daughter and leave, she thought as much, he didn't want to responsibility of ensuring she was well behaved- _pitiful_. She stood up as well, walking off in the opposite direction, they would be leaving soon- she had might as well get dressed for what was planned for later…

"It is time for us to leave, Sylvie, say goodbye to your friend, we shall return in a month. It has been nice seeing you as well, Pride." Sylvie pushed herself onto her feet silently, picking up her basket and waiting for Pride to inevitably do the same. She 'curtsied' to him like she always did

"Alas, this is when we must again part ways, Mister Pride; my father wishes it so." Her refined politeness had returned with the presence of her father, she seemed aware of how she was being _too _polite, Pride was more than happy to play along with it.

"Indeed, Miss Sylvie, it is most un-un-un_fortunate_, but I shall patiently await your return…" He bowed down, assuming he was expected to 'kiss' her hand again, he had forgotten to do so during Lust's birthday, she didn't object, merely watching him as he did so… _"…Princess"_

"How polite you are, Mister Pride, for someone of higher social status you treat me like an equal, well, perhaps…" He stood up in front of her, blinking in confusion at what she was saying, she just made a 'tsk' sound, and giggled at his blank expression. Sylvie pulled him into a tight embrace, resting her head on his shoulder "you don't even treat me like a princess at times, but it's nice, to be seen as a friend first and royalty second…" She felt him nervously wrap his arms around her, returning the hug wholeheartedly, how she appreciated it, but was much too proud to admit such a thing- she laughed at the irony. "but I'm being too melodramatic for my own good. And there _is_ the more pressing matter of…" She pulled away, a smirk one wouldn't expect from a princess plastered over her face. She pointed straight at him, lightly touching the tip of his nose, Pride's eyes crossed as he looked at it; he turned away, rubbing at them with his sleeves.

"_A month_, Pride! _One month_! Then you shall be educated in the ways of traditional Amestrian cuisine," her tiara fell down in front of her face, she didn't bother to push it back up, holding it in place above her eye, still pointing at him with her spare hand, though reconsidered to pointing at his chest instead "and you shall _like_ it! This is a promise, mark my words Pride, you _will_ eat something Amestrian before my reign ends, if I can't get one before it even _starts_ I-" someone grabbed hold of her outstretched wrist

"Yes, yes your games are very nice but we must be leaving darling…" the king pulled her gently away, whispering things about her mother being worried about them if they didn't return home.

"F-Fa_-Father_! You said a princess must always state what she promises in public several times for it to have any emotional weight in the hearts of our su-"

"But Master Pride is _not _one of our subjects, Sylvie, and this can hardly be considered 'in public'." He had started climbing the stairs now, standing behind her so that she didn't fall, as well as not to give her chance to escape.

"That's beside the point Father…" She murmured, giving up and trudging up the rest of the stairs. Atop the first landing she straightened out her hair, pushing her tiara back in. She turned to face the white blob of her social superior, still trying to fix his eyes, but she didn't think about that, he was her friend, and that was all that mattered. She curtsied, as she was supposed to.

"Until we meet again, Mister Pride." She saw him nod at her, waving, smiling the way he always did.

"I wait with b…bated breath until that day, Miss Sylvie." He called up, mimicking her words to him the previous month. She waved back.

"See you later, Pride"

"See you later, Sylvie" Pride watched her leave, still waving long after she had stopped looking at him, he sighed, sinking to the ground, gently pushing at the skin underneath his eye, he could see normally enough, but it still stung, even though he knew Sylvie didn't mean it, he covered it with his sleeve anyway. His other hand quickly reached for another slice of melon, pulling the plate closer, it was almost half gone already, Pride decided against it, scooping up his flask instead, cradling it to his chest like he usually did. He tapped against it with his fingernail, they were nothing at all like Lust's fingernails, he'd never seen her without her gloves, and perhaps he'd ask her to take them off someday when he had the opportunity. She couldn't stretch as far as they used to ever since she'd saved his flask, apparently she'd broken them in the fall, and they couldn't grow any longer than that anymore, when he suggested that she ask Father to fix them she shook her head, muttering something about not wanting to waste Father's time, Pride had no reason to not believe her, and so didn't think anymore about it. Something tapped back in response; he craned his neck upwards, smiling at the sight.

"Hello, Lust, I didn't see you there." Lust leaned over, ruffling his hair, before returning to fiddling with the long 'dark blue' ribbon around her wrist "Do you want some melon?"

"No thank you, you keep it, you only get one every month after all." She brought her hair over her shoulder, tying the ribbon around her neck in a bow, clipping her hair up with something Pride couldn't see against her gloves and hair.

"Why are you wearing your human clothes, Lust?" He asked as she helped him up

"Did Father not tell you? Surely he hasn't forgotten…I've been planning this for-" Pride shook his head

"Father's busy Lust today, he hasn't said anything to me." His head drooped a bit at the realization that Father hadn't even said so much as good morning to him, he forced himself to ignore it "But, what does that have to do with why you are dressed like that?" Lust smiled at him

"Why, Big Brother, I'm dressed like this…it's because…" She couldn't hold back laughter "It's because…I…we…"

"_We're going to town_!"

Her _'but only if you want to of course'_ that followed went unheard as Pride wrapped his frail arms around her waist, smiling up at her.

"Really, Lust? I…I can go…_out there_…with you again?"

"Of course, _Big Brother_."

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"Is that for that _human_, Lust?" Pride spoke up as he observed her messing with the flower she'd plucked from who knew where, trying to push it through her hair.

"You could say that, Pride, his name's Jack- the one with the flowers I mean, the others from that night, well…let's say we won't be seeing them for a very _very_ long time, better to forget about them." They'd been walking for an 'hour', or so Lust said, the sky wasn't 'blue' today, covered by big grey fluffy looking things Lust called _'clouds'_. "I haven't seen him since last year; I bet he's been worried sick, I know I shouldn't care but I need to integrate my new human identity into town, and I can't do that if-"

"_Human identity_? What's that?" Pride hurried closer to her, holding tight onto her hand, shivering, Lust could swear it was with fear, but brushed it off as him being cold.

"We need 'made-up' names to use while we're up here, to pretend that we're humans, nothing more than that, don't worry yourself with it, Pride, and when we _do_ end up finding Jack, just pretend you've never met him before, ok?." The older homunculus nodded, leaning against her as they went, a certain solemn air about him, Lust couldn't understand what was wrong with him and wasn't sure whether to ask him if he wasn't feeling well or if he was tired from walking or if he wanted her to carry him because his feet hurt, she decided upon giving his hand a reassuring squeeze and carrying onwards.

Pride sighed quietly to himself, clinging closer to Lust's side, his flask pressed into stomach, his leg braces creaking as he dragged his feet along the ground, he didn't want to think about how dirty the edge of his robe was becoming. He had no idea what was wrong with him; he'd been so excited about seeing the outside world again with Lust, but now he just felt terrible, a sense of foreboding following him around town wherever he went, he felt cold, and the wind ripped right through his soon-to-be-grey-coloured robe. He stared aimlessly around, the humans were as he remembered them, but with his new container they did not simply ignore him as before, they acknowledged him as one of their own, smiling and nodding in his direction, offering him strange things that apparently he and Lust would like to 'buy', they didn't suspect him to be anything otherwise, and Pride didn't quite know what to make of being lowered to such a level, except that was what Father had intended, what he wanted them to think and that he should do his best to convince them that those presumptions were quite correct. Some people, however, he had taken a certain unfounded dislike to, they didn't look at him with spite, they didn't look at him at all, but whenever _he_ looked at them his Philosopher's stone heart jumped around inside his chest, tightening in on itself until he couldn't breathe and forcing things to flash in front his eyes, things he didn't remember experiencing, things he knew were impossible: a strange animal he didn't recognize dashing away from him, a small worn sandal being snatched away by someone he didn't know, his flask sitting in a pool of melted Philosopher's stones, the liquid dripping from somewhere above, trickling down its sides and being soaked up in the corks, a small red hand draped over it, a hand that looked like-

"Oh, there he is! Look, Pride he's there," Lust mercifully tore him from his ridiculous daydreams, dragging him along with her as she rushed to catch up with her precious 'flower-buying-human'.

"Jack! _Jack_! It's me! Don't you remember?" The human turned to face her, his expression one of shock

"Luna? Why, I don't even…Luna, it's you, you've come back!" Lust rushed forward without him, leaping into his arms "Where in the world have you been? I've been so worried about you; I thought…I thought you'd been hauled off to the crazy house or something awful like that."

"I've tried to visit, but I've been preoccupied as of late." 'Jack' lowered her down,

Pride padded forward, taking hold of Lust's hand again and nuzzling himself against it, shivering all the while, he pulled his hood in front of him, unfazed as the human crouched down, resting his hand on his head "And who might you be? You aren't planning on stealing my girl are you?" Pride shook his head with a scowl, dislodging the human's hand"You…you're…you're Miles aren't you? Why, Iris told me all about you, sh-she said you were dead! How could she even lie about something like that…? She said the Millers' horse and carriage…" the human trailed off, looking at him curiously, he didn't bother to smile at him, his flask now secure in his hood, his arms wrapped tight around Lust's waist, Pride saw his eyes widen for a moment, before he stood up to face Lust "That didn't really happen…did it?" Lust frowned to herself, so that's what happened to him, that's why he was in such a state when he found him "Luna, tell me he didn't…" she nodded slowly, turning away as she reached down to stroke at Pride's cheeks, covering his ears with her palms.

"…It's true, I found him that night, I've never seen so much blood in my life…" The lies came easily enough to her, what difference did it make if she stretched the truth a bit? "Oh Jack, it was horrible…I thought he was beyond help, really I did." False tears poured down her face "I've been caring for him since then, I have no idea how he pulled through. I just prayed every chance I could that I wouldn't lose him too…I wanted to tell you but I just couldn't leave-" Her fabricated hysterics were silenced as Jack pressed his finger to her lips

"Shhh, Luna, it's all right, you don't need to talk about it, I won't force you, what's important now is that you and Miles are fine at the present. Now…" he crouched back down "I don't think we met under the best of circumstances just now, my name's Jack, and your name is…?" Pride glared at him for a moment, searching his eyes for any trace of falsity, it was impossible for this human to be as genuine as Lust said he was. His search went uncompleted, Lust gesturing for him to stand up straight and play along, he recalled the strange name from before, the one that felt strangely familiar, despite him never hearing of it, he accepted it as his 'made-up name' without complaint.

"M…M-Miles?" Jack smiled at him, pretending that he hadn't known his 'name' in the first place, holding out his hand, Pride didn't understand what he was supposed to do.

"And has your sister been taking good care of you?" Pride nodded, hints of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he cautiously stretched his own hand, Jack shaking it through his sleeve

"It's good to see you all better Miles. It's times like this I wish Iris was as close to me as your sister is to you, she'd be so happy if she found out you were all right after all, that woman needs some good news to help bring her out of that damn depres…" he stopped himself, as if saying something he shouldn't, he chuckled to himself, scratching the back of his neck "but _where are_ my manners? I shouldn't be making you worry about our adult matters now should I?" Pride decided it better just to agree and pretend he understood, shaking his head "All in all, it has been wonderful meeting you, and with that, I shall leave you with…" He lifted his unreasonably tall black hat from his head, dipping his hand inside in and lifting out a strange red object "_This_. A boy like you could do with an apple or two once in a while, but I'm sure Luna's been keeping you well fed" He held it out to him "Here, it won't bite."

"_Apple_…Thank you, Mr. Jack" Pride took the 'apple' from his slowly, prodding at it in confusion, was it something he was supposed to eat? He reasoned that he could ask Lust about it later, tucking it into one of the folds of his robe.

"Please, none of that 'mister' nonsense, you'll make me sound like my father, and while that's not a bad thing…I'm not that old yet, I'm only _twenty_ darn it! Heh…anyway, while I would love to catch up," He stood up straight "those papers unfortunately won't sign themselves, but that's the life of an budding entrepreneur I suppose." Lust seemed to have no problem with the human being 'melodramatic' as Sylvie called it, cooing senseless things about it being perfectly fine and standing on the tips of her feet to plant a kiss on his cheek, as if she actually cared about him and his _human _business. Pride knew better than to think such actions were genuine.

"Well then, _'Miles'_, where shall we go now?" Lust had been visiting town for most of her life, Lust knew what humans were like, how they were 'selfish' and 'ignorant' and 'pitiable', Lust was well aware of how she ought to behave in front of them.

_And Lust was better at acting than he was. _

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"Is it time yet, Lust?" nothing disturbed the wide expanse of blue in Pride's vision, Lust's ribbon still tied around his head, covering his eyes.

"Just a little bit longer, Pride, won't be long now I promise, these clouds are just taking their time clearing themselves up, please don't worry." He heard her shift behind him, patting at his head to remind him that she was still there.

"It's ok Lust, I can wait." Lust merely hugged him closer to her, she seemed reluctant to let him go for whatever reason, ever since they had arrived on the strange green lump in the ground she called a 'hill' she had been nervous, going so far as roughly pulling him by the wrist when he had tried to inspect a strange wooden board poking out of the 'grass', she had apologized several times to him, saying that the sign was the very, _very_ edge of town, and that he wasn't allowed to go past there or else something 'bad' could happen. Pride wasn't one to even think of questioning what Father had instructed Lust to do while they were away from home, and had forgiven her without a second thought. After that she wouldn't let him leave her side, occasionally mentioning something about a 'surprise' she had been planning for a few weeks, and the _true_ reason for their 'little outing', covering his eyes with her ribbon to make it a _real_ surprise, apparently she'd untie it when the surprise was ready. Pride didn't know how long he and Lust had been sitting underneath the tall bare thing she called a 'tree', but he knew it wasn't so long that he wanted to go home to Father, certainly not.

"Oh, there it is! Oh and it's full too, thank goodness…but I guess I shouldn't have doubted Father's calendar…any moment now, Pride." The ribbon around him loosened, falling in a loop in his lap "Look there, Big Brother" he followed her finger to what she was pointing at, and gasped.

"_Wow_! It…it's…it's beautiful, Lust!" Pride had never called anything beautiful before, probably because he'd only recently discovered the word from Sylvie, but he didn't think about that, he simply stared ahead, eyes transfixed on the sight before him.

"I'm glad you like it, Pride"

A pure white orb floated along silently in the sky, gently bathing them and the rest of the town below in a soft light, and yet Pride didn't feel afraid, the uneasy sensation that bubbled in his stomach at the appearance of light had yet to form, this light was…different, he didn't mind it, it even seemed soothing…somehow…

"What is it…Lust?" he was turned on his side now, to get a better look, leaning against Lust's chest as he continued to contently drink in the calming view of the human town; he stifled a yawn with his sleeve.

"Why, that's the moon, I'm not quite sure what purpose it has, but it and the stars help us to see. Do you know how to spell moon, Pride? It's spelt 'M-O-O-N', um, _EmmOhhOhhEnn_, I think?" he nodded, for whatever reason his first thought was of it being spelt differently to that like… 'Mun…' he had no idea why he ever assumed such a thing.

"What are the smaller lights?" He hadn't noticed them at first, besides the 'moon', more than a hundreds of hundreds of tiny lights twinkled in the night sky, floating all by themselves as well, he wondered what it would be like to hold one in his hand, would it be cold? Surely if it gave off light like a candle it would be warm, he decided it was better not to think about it, shuffling himself into a more comfortable position, passing Lust's ribbon back to her.

"Those are the 'stars' I was just talking about, S-T-A-R-S, EssTeeAyArrEss, you see that really bright one, the one near the moon? That's the Evening Star, some humans think it's another world, Father doesn't really care about such things so I'm not sure, but I think it's supposed to be another world, not like this world of course, an empty world, it's probably a load of nonsense, you know how humans are."

"I see…" His eyelids fluttered of their own accord, a sigh escaped him, and a strange mist swirled about in front of his face, before disappearing as quickly as it had appeared, he convinced himself that he'd imagined it.

"Will all the stars fall down someday? There's nothing keeping... them up… there…" The young looking homunculus whispered, his eyes half lidded now, leaning his flask into his neck, part of inside his mouth was starting to sting, he didn't want to talk anymore…

"What was that? No, of course not, the stars don't fall out of the sky, please do not worry about such things" As if to spite her a star glided in an arc across the sky, the clouds following obediently behind it, she scowled at it. "That's a shooting star, Pride, i-it won't fall down, it just…_moves about…_ sometimes…I'm not that good at explaining it, sorry. Oh but, it's a shooting star! You can make wishes on shooting stars, when humans see one they make a wish for something they want, but they don't tell anyone else what it is or it won't come true" Lust blushed a little at the fact that she was not supposed to be so well versed in human behaviour, it wasn't like she cared about them, she'd need to correct that. "…_Or so I heard._" Her eyes darted about nervously; she thought it better to just carry on "So, do you want to make a wish, Pride?" She looked down to see his reaction, and laughed.

There, curled up on her chest, one hand holding his flask near to his throat, the other's thumb in his mouth, innocently using her bosom as a pillow, was Pride. He didn't stir, his eyes lightly closed, periodically alternating between forcing a breath through his nose and breathing softly through his mouth.

_She'd talked him to sleep! _He must have been exhausted and she didn't even notice.

"Oh, Pride, I'm sorry for not noticing you were tired, but you can tell me when you want to go to sleep, I dragged you all the way up here…" He murmured something nonsensical through his dreaming, sleeve rubbing at his neck "Well, I might as well make myself useful…" She lay down completely, careful not to wake her sleeping sibling; she ran a hand through his hair. "Sleep well, Pride, hopefully I'll make a more suitable mattress for you" Her failing attempts at humour went unheard, she was grateful, she didn't want to be ruining her nails tonight, not to mention doing such a thing might dirty Pride's robe, or even worse- wake him up.

Lust yawned, lying back in the grass, shutting her eyes, she thought of the now hidden stars, and the moon, whose light Pride didn't fear, and soon her thoughts turned to that polite little huma-

Something cold and wet spattered on her nose.

"What was that?" Her eyes shot open, but she didn't move, forcing herself to calm down at once, whatever it was it wasn't worth her or Pride's time, not at all. Lust wrapped her arms around the fluffy white clump on her stomach, she couldn't have him being cold, such a thing wasn't an option. Her mind stayed focused on her older sibling as she sighed, settling into a slightly more comfortable position, as she secretly wished on the long gone shooting star- childish and human as it was- she wished for Pride's dreams to be pleasant, and as she pulled him into a weak embrace, she hoped that he would remain in this untainted state, as pure and as innocent as he was now- for as long as possible, before drifting off entirely.

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I asked politely for you to hold your bricks and bullets until next chapter, I know the name is the worst thing since…*insert something here* but the irony tempted me again, oh come on I said I was sorry, and I did warn you *bricked and shot repeatedly*


	21. On the Field of Fallen Stars

I've been feeling very Christmas-y recently, since it snowed here on Friday (17th) and I really like snow, just looking at it not going out in it, too cold for my liking. Sorry for being really late as well, mock exams are the worst thing ever. Oh and Merry Christmas everyone, or perhaps, Happy Holidays…?

Previous reviewers:

MuddyWolf- Replied via PM ^_^

Moofy-Fan

The train may try to slow down, but fluff bunnies are too late…cute as it may appear the concealed darkness is becoming less subtle…they will be falling off that cliff… and yes…ominous drop is ominous, luckily you only have a few more lines until all is revealed ^_^ That being said almost any scene with Sylvie ends up cute somehow.

Hmm? You aren't bricking me for Miles' name? Strange… but I'm glad someone likes it. I feel bad for Pride too since his visions of Miles' death actually weren't in the plan, so I guess I was just in a sadistic mood at that time, how terrible I am with him.

I can't decide whether writing un-canon Pride or canon Pride is easier, for the moment I'm gonna say fanon since I know how far away he is to becoming canon Pride and I can gauge his arrogance from that…sorta :S

Arakawa…owns this…zzzz

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Twenty-One: On the Field of Fallen Stars**

**December 17****th**** 1681**

His fingers dug into her shoulders, she was cold, colder than he was "…You can wake up now…I need to tell you something, there…there's…" the old homunculus, who would appear to any human to be a frail child no older than ten, whispered close to her ear, his whole body shaking, his teeth chattering together so loud that he couldn't form what he was about to say in his head. His ignorant mistake lay around him in an endless blanket of white, he shouldn't have asked, he shouldn't have even thought about it. Pride's tiny hand cupped her face, rubbing her cheek with his thumb like she did with him, she didn't stir, didn't smile, didn't even shiver, didn't anything- He could feel his façade cracking, swallowing down the growing lump in his throat.

"Please stop pretending you're asleep, Lust, this is important." His silent sibling did not comply; somehow, he knew she wouldn't "You're still tired?" The same 'somehow' did nothing to help him pretend "I understand Lust, I'll leave you to sleep for a while, my…my flask can keep you company" It was against his better judgment he was sure, still, he stood the flask on her stomach, pushed her fringe back, and softly kissed her forehead. He thought about saying something else before he left, but fearing his composure would fail him completely, he just pushed himself to his feet and silently stepped out into the vast empty void of his 'mistake'.

They didn't glitter anymore; leaving the sky had tarnished them, nothing but white powder now. There was no use in apologizing, the sky was closed now, covered by angry clouds of a darker grey, they didn't want anyone to know what he'd done, they would never forgive him, and they had more than enough ways of reminding him.

Pride carried on what he had convinced himself was exploring, wincing as he heard the fallen stars crunching underneath, making him sink until they were around his ankles, the cold biting at his feet through his sandals, toes turning numb, he couldn't move them properly anymore. He didn't know where he was going; his first thought was that he was going to find a human, to find help for Lust, but homunculi were completely different to humans, only Father could fix her, he thought, and wondered how long it would take for him to drag her back home. It was better not to think about it. With a sigh that froze and swirled around in front of his face he balled his red tipped hands (his fingers were red as well? He hadn't noticed) and turned around, off to return to Lust.

But where was Lust?

Pride's looked around for any sign of where he had started from, eyes only meeting with identical expanses of white, and he stood in thought far longer than he knew was sensible, the numbness eating its way up to his knees, crawling along his hands and into his elbows before he had time to consider moving. Deciding to follow his footprints he clumsily forced his foot forward, leg braces that had tightened in the cold restricting his movement more than ever. Pride gritted his teeth, but forced a smile, looking on the more positive side- at least he had stopped shivering.

His footsteps slowed to little more than dragging his feet along the star covered ground after a few moments, the wind hissing at him as he went, his eyes watering now, curled fingers hidden beneath his cloak as he tried to pull his hood over his head and warm his ears, unable to flex enough to even pull back the sleeves. A low sob forced itself from his mouth, the cold wrapped around his ankles almost feeling like it was burning now, and yet he still didn't shiver at it, nor did it warm him in the slightest, he hugged himself in a vain attempt to make himself feel better, but he needed comfort that only another could provide.

Pride didn't remember falling over, only that his foot got stuck in one of his footprints and then he was on the floor, the fallen stars- that were both cold and warm like he had guessed the night before- covering half of his body, burning him through freezing him until he didn't realize it was there anymore, bleeding through to the other half of him instead. He thought he could see Lust, somewhere far away, just a small black strand of her hair poking out from the ground, he was too weak to move to her, they had taken whatever strength he had, just like they'd taken Lust away, he supposed that somehow he might have deserved it, him and his wonderings. And yet, a small warmth started up in his chest, Pride didn't feel it on his skin, he didn't feel anything on his skin anymore, instead fully focused on the gentle smoldering of his internal fire, at least that's what he imagined it to be through his drooping eyes.

Silent tears poured from Pride's eyes, dripping off his nose into his 'fallen stars', melting them with ease, not that he noticed, too far gone to see his further ignorance. He just continued to mentally huddle around the false source of warmth, listening to the crackling that wasn't there, as what heat remained within his feeble frame left through his mix of contented sighs and forlorn tears.

Drifting into a most comfortable sleep, Pride smiled, grateful for the only small comfort that he was able to provide for himself.

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True warmth was trickling into his mouth from somewhere, he didn't understand what was happening, only aware of the gentle arms cradling him, he huddled closer.

"Is this ok, Pride?" Lust's silken voice echoed close to him, she pressed the glass' edge against his lips "I should have expected this, I'm so sorry; you must've been terrified…" She held him tighter as she spoke, voice little more than a whisper, Pride did not understand any of it "But you're safe now, please just focus on drinking, your container needs to be warmed up from the inside, please don't try to speak, save your energy." He didn't question where Lust had gotten a Philosopher's stone from; it didn't matter at the moment, he just accepted it wholeheartedly, fully appreciating its non-diluted taste and the extra hint of something else he couldn't define that altered it slightly.

Lust stared down at him, as he weakly gulped down her blood from his flask- a hasty decision, made out of panic when she found him, seeing his fragile body curled up in the snow, his cheeks, nose and limbs all a bright scarlet from the cold, minute spasms running through him, the same scarlet flashing along with them, his Philosopher's stone doing whatever it could to fight off death for a few more seconds

…he didn't know how to regenerate himself completely…

What would have been his final breath passed his lips several times before she had managed to slice her finger open. How could she have been so stupid as to not expect snow in the middle of December? To even let herself die, leaving the one she was supposed to protect alone in an environment he knew nothing about… the guilt of it all hurt in a way that death never could.

"Hmm?" Pride's tired eyes cracked open, staring down at his flask in confusion, any other time he might have thought it strange to use his flask for drinking from, but more concerned with where the Philosopher's stone he had been drinking had gone he didn't notice. Seeing it empty he pulled away from it, licking his red-stained lips. "All gone…Lust…"

"I'm sorry, Pride, do you want me to refill your flask…I could…" Lust leaned against the tree, prepared to cut her recently healed fingers again should 'Big brother' desire it, Pride just yawned and snuggled himself further into her arms, Lust didn't think anything of it, holding onto his hand, feeling the gentle drumming of his human's heart through his wrist, so relaxed, no…it was getting fainter…he was going to sleep…

_Going to sleep…_

"No!" Pride flinched, curling up as tight as he could without thinking, regaining control of himself he gazed up at her, wide eyes questioning her innocently, much too polite to scowl, but no doubt he could feel what he thought was his own heart pounding in his ears, she smiled a sheepish smile, burying her worry beneath it "You…you need to stay awake…" She didn't want to explain death to him, what would be the point? It would only make him fear it for the rest of his life, even if temporary for homunculi, dying for the first time didn't have the best effect on the mind, Pride had the instinct to avoid it as much as possible, but if he wasn't aware of what was happening, or at least didn't feel something wrong, then perhaps he wouldn't be able to…

"You wouldn't wake up earlier…" It was the first thing Pride had said on the subject, he murmured it quietly, like he didn't really want to bring it up at all "I tried and tried and tried, but you just…" His voice strained as he trailed off, his eyes opening a little wider as he seemed to remember, small creases contorting his cherubic face, hand gripping onto hers as if he never wanted to let it go again "…Why?" Lust had no answer for that, none that would protect his innocence at least.

"I was…" The expression on his face was almost enough to convince her that it would be better for her to tell him the truth for once -to stop lying to him- but that same expression told her that he needn't know, if she told him now... "I ended up oversleeping, I'm sorry, I usually go to bed before you so that I can wake you up, but last night you fell asleep before me, so woke up earlier than usual, I didn't mean to worry you." He hardly seemed convinced, but she pressed on anyway "Don't you remember?" Pride shook his head, thinking for a moment.

"I…remember, we saw the moon, and the stars…I fell asleep, and the stars fell down." His tone was laced with guilt that he couldn't for the life of him try to hide, a guilt that Lust knew he had never felt before. But Lust didn't understand what he had to feel guilty about.

"The stars don't fall down, Pride, did you not hear me tell you yesterday?"

"The stars fell down; can't you see them, Lust? On the ground…because of me…"

"You mean snow?" Pride turned to her, whispering a 'what?' in disbelief "Oh of course, how could I…" His eyes were already welling up, whether from relief or sadness Lust couldn't tell "You thought all this was your fault? Oh no, no no _no_, you poor thing" Pride nodded glumly, blinking hard to himself, his body rattling with unheard sobs, she pulled him to her chest "They're not stars Pride, it's snow, you see…when it's cold the clouds drop little white specks from the sky, that's all it is, I should have told you all this before. Humans love snow, not too sure why but…I suppose we don't need to know about such things…" Lust held him, rocking him gently, no soothing words reaching him, she couldn't risk it, he _could not_ be allowed to sleep until he was out of the cold.

Pride, though his slowing flow of tears suddenly felt Lust pushing him further into her chest, into a particularly uncomfortable position, and his attempts to resist were only met with more force, force he stood no chance against, his body ached too much.

"Wh-What are you doing, Lust? !" His throat objected his attempts to form the words, drinking had not soothed it in the slightest. She pulled him closer still, tilting his head towards the 'tree', not allowing him to see whatever she was seeing.

"Don't look Pride, don't turn around, don't even peek." She actually seemed…scared?

"Why not?"

"I overslept, the sun's already up, and the clouds have parted- how convenient…"

"The sun?"

"The sun makes light, Pride, it's one of the brightest things in the world, and you…you're afraid of light, " His body tensed at the word, he hadn't heard it in so long, it reawaked memories inside him, blurred and distorted as they were, he could still recall the fear that had ran through him at the sight of light, he knew not how many years had passed since then, but the fear felt as pure as it did back then, and before he had time to react it shot through him once more, renewed in full force. He started shivering, it was so close, and he hadn't even noticed… "You must not see, close your eyes." He did as he was told, clinging to her.

Lust wasn't afraid of light, she could protect him, she would never let anything happen to him. Pride nodded to himself, his attempts to calm himself down succeeding somewhat. He thought about his sister in curiosity, though younger than him she was much more knowledgeable about humans, she knew about why the sky changed colour and sometimes dropped things on the floor for the humans' amusement, but none of those things would serve much purpose in keeping that 'light' away from him…

…Or perhaps him away from 'it'.

A strange thought appeared from somewhere, a thought that he had never considered before- perhaps he didn't need to be afraid of the light, what could it do to him? He had a 'container' now_, that_ would protect him from the light. Something else swirled itself about inside him from that somewhere, but it didn't give him any strange ideas, like it was sleeping, waiting for something to happen, something for him to do by himself, he wanted to ignore it, but he felt drawn towards it somehow, even if it wasn't real. He pushed it away, musing about his container and how he could use it to protect him. Or since it was _his_ container…

_How he could use it to protect himself_.

The thought interested him, the very thought of not having to rely on another to achieve something, to be able to look after himself…it made him feel-

The 'something' exploded inside his head, flooding his mind in a flash of purple, overpowering everything until there was only an intense feeling of self-importance, he had felt it occasionally, when he first learned how to walk, when he found out he was taller than Sylvie the day they met, but never at such a scale before, he scrunched his face in attempt to contain it all, it was too much, it was far too much for his body to hold.

Then, for a brief moment, he understood, he knew that he was something more than human, not through what Father had taught him, the sense of superiority that burned within him confirmed it more than any belief ever could, he had every reason to consider himself above anything and everything in the world, he could do things without help from anyone else, he was… he was…

He regained enough control to correct himself, he was not superior to everyone, there was Father, Father was the reason he existed, without him what purpose could he serve? He was a part of Father; he was named after one of his sins, the sin he didn't have anymore, his…his…

His _pride._

And as quickly as it had began it faded away, the 'something' sealing itself back up, leaving him shuddering in what Lust would assume was fear, his vision through closed eyes returning to its usual black. He assumed that he had gone back to normal, but a hint of that confidence remained with him, he smiled and sat up.

Lust gasped as she felt Pride trying to pull away from her

"Pride, Wh-what are you…? No, you mustn't…" Pride ignored her, smiling, it was a smile Lust had never seen him make before, he seemed so confident; she didn't know how she was supposed to react.

"I will be _fine_, Lust, please do not worry." She almost flinched at his tone, as he repeated words she often said to him. Seemingly oblivious he turned towards the light, tilting his head at it. Without a moment's hesitation he stood up and strode forward into the snow, glancing back to look at his flask, but otherwise unfazed that less than an hour ago he was lying in it, teetering on the line between life and death, whether he did not realize or had forced himself to forget that fact Lust didn't know.

The 'sun' shone down on him, as if trying to blind him, he didn't look at it directly. Pride was still beaming, confidence burning in his eyes, the very idea of being afraid long forgotten. He crossed his arms, raising his head and turning away, shunning it in disgust, _this_ was what he had been afraid of? How absurd. He thought he heard Lust gasp, opening one of his eyes he saw her frowning, holding his red-stained flask to her chest, looking at him like she didn't even recognize him. His expression softened, he flashed her a warmer smile, uncrossing his arms so as to wave.

Suddenly the last of his newfound confidence drained away, the 'something' sealing completely and returning to wherever it had come from, abandoning him, he stood frozen, feeling hollow and cold, his legs quivering. Pride hadn't the time to gasp, his legs buckling; he collapsed sideways into the snow, falling in a graceless white heap, the glacial air enfolding him. He hadn't the strength to move, and merely stared ahead, a small scowl contorting his young looking features as the sun bore triumphantly down at him, until his blurred vision faded to black.

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"And then Lust carried me back through town, and all the humans were playing in the snow!"

"Did you wish to be playing in the snow as well, Pride?" The younger homunculus shook his head

"No, Father, they made it all dirty, is was much prettier when left alone, it sparkled like the stars, I wanted to bring you some in my flask but it melted… but it was this colour" Pride pointed to his robe, but shook his head as he saw how dirty it had become from his visit to the town "oh…My clothes are grey now, I'm sorry for dirtying it, Father, please forgive me."

"It is fine, as long as you enjoyed yourself." Father pressed his finger into his chest, the robe returning to its pure white in an instant, Pride giggled as the sparks crackled and danced over his skin, squirming a bit at the sensation. "What did you do after that, Pride?" he paused for a moment to recall what else had happened during their return home

"Well, we walked through the royal gardens…I didn't see Sylvie, Mister 'Servant' said she wasn't feeling very well." Pride didn't really understand what that meant, but that was the only other thing he could think of that had happened on their way back. "…And that's it" His throat didn't seem to approve him talking so much, his voice coming out particularly hoarse, he forced himself to cough.

"You're coughing, Pride? Is something the matter?" Pride didn't want Father worrying about him over nothing; he gulped in hopes of fixing his voice as he shook his head quickly, making up some excuse.

"My throat just stings a little bit, Father, but I'm sure it will go away soon, it's nothing." Before he had time to respond Pride heard footsteps coming from the direction of Lust's room

"Oh, Father, Lust must have cleaned out my flask, please may I collect it from her?" Catching glimpse of Father nodding Pride gently pushed himself from his lap, bowing respectfully before walking off towards the source of the footsteps, he decided against running lest his limbs start aching again.

Lust stepped out from the hallway carrying something almost as tall as her under her arm, Pride waved at her, and followed quietly behind.

"Hello there, Pride, sorry I haven't brought your flask back, it still needs to soak for a little while, the…_Philosopher's stone's_ stained in a bit, I hope you don't mind." Pride, polite as ever, nodded with a smile, increasing his pace to catch her up and curiously pointed at what she was holding. "Oh, this? It's a mirror, you've never seen one before have you? It shows you your reflection" Stopping seemingly at random she set the 'mirror' down on its four gold legs. "Now, before I show you, I want you to have this" Lust held out a small white piece of cloth "It's a nametag! So the humans know what your 'name' is when they meet you. Look, I made myself one too." She tapped at the small piece of cloth stitched onto the front of her human attire; she kneeled down to let him see it better.

"Elle…Yuu…Enn…Ay…that's right, he calls you _Luna_, doesn't he?" Pride murmured to himself as she pinned his 'nametag' onto his cloak with a small bone needle.

"And…there we go!" Lust clapped happily at her apparent success, standing back up, motioning for him to step back as she tilted the mirror, flipping it around.

Pride inched closer, slowly, almost in awe of the sight before him in the mirror. He could see himself in it, for the first time he could see what he looked like, or rather, what the container Father had made for him looked like. He tugged up the bottom of his cloak; his reflection did the same, revealing the sandals Father had given him, and the black leg braces that helped him walk. He dropped the cloth down, pressing against the mirror's front with his finger; it met its double through the glass, resting his hand against it with a sigh, he eyed his form with admiration and wonder, from his ten pale toes, to his full, pink lined cheeks, to his dark mass of hair, to whatever lay under his clothes, his container was everything he could have wanted, something he could live in instead of his flask, something that allowed him to assist Father, that let him write and draw and do things for himself, when trying to define it only one word ever crossed his mind.

_Perfect_

He stepped closer still, and wrapped his arms around the mirror, embracing his container through it; he could never thank Father enough for making it for him.

After what seemed like forever he stood up straight, examining the name tag Lust had made for him.

"Can you read it, Pride? It's EmmAiiElleEeEs-"

"Have I got a new name, Lust? Because the 'Ess' is backwards." Pride commented flatly

"What? It says Mile-"

"It says '_Selim'_. See?" Pride pointed to the letters through the mirror "Ess, but backwards. Ee. Elle. Aii. Emm. Selim. Or is Seleem? Salem? How do you say it?" Lust understood now, he was reading it through the mirror's reflection

Miles, or in Pride's reading 'seliM', what an odd name he had made for himself.

It was all her fault as usual; she just smiled and thought it better to let him decide by himself.

"You pronounce it however you want, Pride; your human name can be anything. Miles or…'_Selim'_ I don't think Father will mind."

"Won't mind what, Lust?" Father spoke from behind them, they both turned around instantly, Pride rushing forward to give him a hug from his waist and babble things about him and his container, and how grateful he was.

"I'm glad you like your container, Pride. Now, what were you using the mirror for?" Pride beamed from ear to ear at Father taking interest in what he was doing.

"I have been looking at my reflection, Father, and Lust made me a-" Pride paused to rub at his nose, trying to distract himself from the ticklish feeling that had started up inside it "…made me a…" a breath forced its way into his mouth, another one quickly following behind it

"a…" and another one

"_a…"_

_**Achoo! **_

His eyes were screwed shut when he realized what had happened, Lust and Father stayed silent, even though his face was ablaze with embarrassment.

"Pride…you…you…" He blinked a few times, his eyes watering, and glanced at the mirror, his eyes widened and he covered his mouth, backing away, stomach flipping over.

A thick clear liquid was running slowly down the mirror's surface, filled with splodges of brown and streaks of crimson.

_That_… had come out of his _nose_…? He could see his face flush through the mirror, he turned away, he didn't want to see, didn't want to even think about it. Someone pulled him aside by the shoulders

"What was that, Pride? Why did you sneeze? Are you not feeling well?" As if by some kind of spite all of Pride's previous discomforts returned at the mention of something being wrong him, his arms and legs ached, he wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, and his throat…

"I…Father, my...throat…_hurts_…a-and…" Father studied him, pulling down the skin below his eyes as he began to transmute a large bed at his side.

"I see, do not worry, I will fix you" Pride felt himself fall forward, into Father's arms, he couldn't hold his weight anymore, "please, just rest" Father scooped him up, and pressed his hand against his forehead "sleep now, Little One." The sound of sparks crackled in his ears for a moment, and the warmth of Father's alchemy seemed to reach through to something deep inside his head, and nudge at it.

Pride slumped into his Father's chest, and thought about it no more.

0 * 0 * 0

**December 20****th**** 1681**

"Are you feeling any better, Pride?" She had been told to only ask him 'yes/no' questions; she was _not_ to make his _Influenza_ any worse. Pride nodded weakly, his eyes red, wrapped tightly in the blankets of his 'bed'; it wouldn't have surprised her in the least if Father had bound his limbs again.

She was glad he wasn't allowed to talk, otherwise he might ask about the bandages around her hands and feet.

_Perhaps we should leave Pride to rest while we…discuss things…_

"Does your throat hurt? Do you want more '_Philosopher's stones' _to drink?"

It certainly would be easier to get them this time.

He shook his head; it was probably too warm for him. "Melon then?" Pride's eyes seemed to light up at the mention of the word, as if he had been waiting for someone to ask him since he had woken up but a few hours earlier. She laughed and sliced a small piece off from his remaining half with a knife, had he been well he would have noticed in an instant what was wrong. She popped the chunk into his mouth, he sighed as it cooled his throat, opening his mouth for another slice almost immediately after.

His innocence was intact it seemed, he appeared to have no memory of his arrogant acts a few days before, and she wouldn't speak a word of it to anyone, though it was selfish of her, seeing him so confident and self sufficient, so sure of himself…she didn't like it, it wasn't her 'Big Brother', wasn't the Pride she had known and looked after, not in the slightest.

Pride's brow furrowed, and he bit into his lip, twisting about underneath his blankets, whatever remained of Lust's good mood was soiled by that, seeing him so ill, in such pain, and all because of her…

_The first time he goes up there in his container, and he comes back like this? !_

"My…St-Stomach." Lust nodded, adding a '_shh'_ as she noted down what stage of influenza he may have been at, if the illness worked like that at all.

"Do you want me do rub it for you? Or, if you sleep for a while, I can go upstairs to find you some medicine; I've heard that a mint drink can help a little." Pride groaned again, his cheeks flushing in the beginnings of another fever "Or do you want me to stay here?" She knew the answer; she couldn't leave him with a fever, already preparing the cold water she had been saving.

He nuzzled into his now clean flask, seeking comfort from it as it lay beside him on his pillow, brushing his illness aside, how he could stay so optimistic all the time was beyond her, but Lust thought that perhaps ignorance was bliss; intelligent as she was, nothing good ever seemed to come of it.

"Lust, Father says he'll be f…fixing me soon"

"Please Pride, Father says you shouldn't talk, your throat needs to rest, as do you." He ignored her

"So…when I'm better…can we go upstairs again? It was-" He broke out into coughs, she covered his mouth for him, lying on his back was doing him no good, but she hadn't the nerve to tell Father that.

"…C-Can we?" Lust didn't know how to respond, Pride's happiness was the most important thing at the moment, but…

_Do not expect to be visiting the human town with Pride in the future, Lust…_

Lust just smiled, cupped his face, and offered him another piece of melon.

"Of course we can…_Big Brother_."

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Seeing Pride becoming more arrogant scares me… it's getting closer…

Miles' name has revealed it's cheapness for real now; bricks and bullets are now acceptable!

And Pride has got the flu; he even had to sneeze up some of the clotted blood that was lodged in Miles' nose from his broken nose when he was alive, I make him suffer so much. DX


	22. Altercations and Alterations

A/N: Hello all, after new years and two stomach bugs I'm back! I'm so sorry this took so long, really I am. Oh, and Happy New Year everyone! Oh, but I'm so late…Happy _Chinese_ New Year everyone!

But just a warning is that fluff time is now over! Moofy-fan's fluffy bunny friends and their fluff train are now beginning to tumble off that cliff :(.

I was going to go on a tangent about how I determined when and how Pride would get his container back when I was planning the fic, but I've kept you guys waiting long enough. So forget that, Ill bring it up some other time!

Reviewer replies:

KingofHeartless'09:

Merry Christmas to you too, reviews are always nice, even if they're just one word ^_^

Moofy-Fan:

Yay, someone likes my cheap little hidden things :D

Yeah, I had trouble trying to describe what his inner, pure arrogance would be like, it's interesting that he isn't too fond of it at first, but likes it since it makes him more confident. I'm still trying to be slow about him becoming his prideful little monster self, I don't want innocent Pride to go, even if I know he must D:

I feel bad for Pride too, having flu must be awful *has not had proper flu for a while so doesn't remember what it's like…thank God for wikipedia*. Lust isn't much better either, needing to make herself bleed since her blood would contain part of her philosopher's stone.

Aww, thank you, reviews are like my mini-Christmas presents I suppose ^.^

Muddywolf:

Via PM (oh wait did I not reply to this one…? *reply coming soon then*)

Without further ado, I do not own FMA, anyway on with the fic!

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Altercations and Alterations**

**March 3****rd**** 1684**

He had never been afraid of heights, even through his faint memories he could recall the distant times when Father would walk aimlessly about with his flask in hand, often holding him higher than his container stood, not once had he feared Father dropping him.

When he thought about it, it wasn't fear that he felt now, he felt more…unsettled, unbalanced perhaps? The situation itself was familiar, though the weightlessness of his previous flask-bound form was gone; no doubt the cause of his unease.

"M-Miss Sylvie is not this high, Father, so…please can you …?" Pride kicked his legs a little as they dangled uselessly in the air, Father holding him tight under the arms, so that his head was in line with Father's own, he kicked more frantically at the thought, trying to lower himself- he had no reason to be above Father in any manner, it was wrong. Wrong wrong _wrong!_

"_Peace._ Be still, Pride." Father shook some sense into him, lowering him slightly, Pride settled himself down immediately, no longer daring to move "You must alter your container more than you require so as to refine it afterwards"

It had been a senseless thing, as he waited for Miss Sylvie to arrive, busying himself with 'reading'. Father's books were much too difficult for Pride to understand, he tried to sometimes, sitting beside Father's chair, his legs crossed, resting it in his lap, just to pass the time. He knew the books were filled with things only Father needed to know, important things no doubt, Father wouldn't read them otherwise, but they were none of his business, and Pride was content in just looking at them as he sat cross-legged beside Father's chair. Yet as traced over the intricately decorated circles with his finger, catching glimpses of strange words and phrases like _'Sun being Male'_, _'Moon being Female'_, _'Eclipses',_ _'Perfect Beings and Existences'_ and _'Transmutation Circles'_ his mind began to wander, his thoughts drifting to the still absent Amestrian Princess- despite Father's comment about it not yet being time for her to arrive, and his teasing words of him being 'impatient'.

Sylvie had changed, Pride hadn't noticed at first, he didn't realize that each time they met she needn't force herself as high as she used to when she took him in her arms, that she didn't need to raise her head as much when she spoke to him, and before he could acknowledge it he found _himself_ needing to stand on the tips of his toes and crane his head to _her_ instead. The realization of that fact affected him more than it should have, and he had found himself scowling at the thought, clawing the edges of Father's book.

Father had noticed it as well, and had promised that he would remedy the problem- by making him taller.

"Close your eyes, you must focus." Pride balled his hands, raising his legs and scrunching up his face "Focus _calmly_, Pride." An alchemic spark shot through his container from Father's hands, his body fell limp of its own accord, his legs resumed dangling uselessly, and Pride found himself relaxing in Father's arms, much too weak to support his weight anymore "Very good. Now…your feet are above the ground, imagine them, _will them_ to touch the floor." A few seconds passed, and Pride was able to move his container properly again, he imagined how far away his legs were from the floor, and imagined them stretching further than they were supposed to. Try as he might, nothing seemed to happen.

"I…it isn't working, Father." Pride struggled to reach the floor once more for good measure, to no avail.

"Hm? You can't modify your container by yourself? Perhaps you will need to adjust for a while longer; it _has_ been only three years. Very well, then I shall alter it for you." Father turned him around, slowly lowering him down to just above Sylvie's height. Pride looked up at him, not sure what to make of Father's reluctance "Now Pride, this may be…slightly uncomfortable." The younger homunculus smiled

"It's fine, Father, I don't mind" Father sighed, and Pride felt the warmth of Father's alchemy return, it spreading through to his arms and legs, pooling in his hands and feet. Pride didn't know what Father was so concerned about. Sparks started flitting over his skin; he hesitated, focusing his eyes. No, not over his skin, the sparks were coming from _inside_ his skin, Pride winced a little as the warmth faded, and something began tugging inside him, his arms and legs stretching further than his body would allow. He closed his eyes again, waiting for his feet to lower and settle on the floor, but his thoughts were disturbed by a loud _snap, _and a sudden burning from his right arm, Pride bit into his lip, lest he be tempted to cry out.

Father stopped immediately, staring down at him, eyebrow raised. Pride expected to be asked what was wrong with him, but Father didn't say a word, setting him down on the table, kneeling in front of him. The younger homunculus shakily raised his arm; Father would probably want to inspect it. It was a peculiar thing; he'd never seen anything like it before, there was a hole in his arm, just…a hole, just a line of black where his skin had broken, small droplets of red beginning to form in the corners. Nothing had happened to his container before, Father had made him 'immune' to that 'influenza' he'd gotten a while ago, it felt strange for something to be wrong with the outside of his container rather than the inside. But it didn't take Pride long to realize that hurt just as much.

"Your skin couldn't stretch. We must find out why…" Father held Pride's hand in his own, running his thumb over the crack, smearing the liquid into it, Pride didn't understand why the liquid didn't fall into the hole, or why he could still feel it, but such things were not the matter at hand, he pushed them away. "Hmm…There's not enough Elastin…well, we can soon fix that, and I suppose more Keratin won't do you any harm either." Before Father had even finished talking all that remained of the gap was a neat thin line, the tugging sensation from before had also left his arms, but persisted in his legs. "Now, your arms are at their regular size, I assume you don't feel any strain on them now, I trust you can heal the scarred tissue by yourself." Father gave him a sideward glance and continued before he could reply "Your legs are still altered, to return them to normal merely relax and imagine what they used to look like, your skin should fold back into shape without any issue. Please remember that this is only a temporary solution; you _will_ need to learn how to manipulate your container's shape without my assistance. Do you understand that?" Pride nodded slowly, trying to ignore the feeling of being unbalanced, even while sitting down he felt awkward. "Very good." Father did something like a smile and reached out, petting him; it didn't feel the same as when Lust did it, more rigid, more forceful, like he didn't know how to do it properly.

Not long after he had managed to push his unease away and walk on his longer legs, a faint tune reached his ears, echoing from behind Father's entrance that led to Sylvie's house (even if she insisted in calling it a 'castle', and her father's 'castle' no less). Pride smiled to himself, looking over at Father "Do you hear that, Father?" Father hesitated for a moment, as if he couldn't hear anything at all, but nodded after a few seconds

"It seems your Princess has arrived, that is 'her' song is it not?" Pride nodded back; when he could hear it clearly it was indeed the song he had often heard Sylvie humming to herself. It was a wordless tune, she had been meaning to make words for it, but apparently, she hadn't the imagination yet.

Sylvie would expect him to greet her, but it hurt enough walking, he couldn't climb the stairs without going back to normal, which would make everything pointless, and if he tried his legs might snap too. Unsure of what to do, Pride just took small unbalanced steps towards the stairs, covering up his slightly torn skin with his sleeves, smiling at the thought that he was taller than Sylvie again, even if just a little. The very idea delighted him to no end.

The happiness widened his smile, and made his face flush slightly through his pride.

A peculiar and yet familiar feeling arose inside him when he considered that fact.

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"I'll only be able to do this for another year…" Pride blinked a couple of times, uncrossing his legs for a moment, rubbing at his ankles absentmindedly

"What do you mean by that, Miss Sylvie?" The homunculus continued to stare at the princess's raised hands, fingers outstretched, save one thumb. She sighed, waving her hands

"_This_, haven't you been listening?" Pride recoiled at her outburst, and slowly, reluctantly, shook his head, slouching a little. Sylvie didn't notice, carrying on "It's ok, I'll say it again. You see, when I was little, Father would ask me how old I was, and I'd count with my fingers like this." She flexed the nine digits to demonstrate "Then he'd say something like 'well, I'm Thirty-seven', Father said I was lucky that I could still show my age on my fingers, I didn't know what he meant…I still don't actually" She smiled a little "I was three or so, back then, but now…I'll be ten next month…and the year after that, I won't be able to do it anymore…"

They'd been sitting for a while now; the funny little feeling in Pride's body had flickered away some time ago, Sylvie had noticed in an instant that he was taller, congratulating him and giving him 'permission' to wear her shawl for the day- it was the one she always wore, bigger than he remembered- purple with a silver lining, a round blue stone holding the edges together. Her clothes never changed much, her dress was getting slightly longer, once just below her knees, now it had stretched down to her ankles, her gloves had grown up past her elbows as well, he was sure he'd never understand why humans' clothes grew as well, while Lust's and Father's and his didn't. They'd sat down beside the stairs, in the corner, and Pride hadn't wasted a moment in returning his skin to its original size.

Content with his new position, Pride raised his hands, pulling a crooked smile "But Miss Sylvie, _I _can't say how old I am on my fingers anyway. I'm…" Pride counted in tens with his fingers to save time "…ninety…three. Well, ninety-four in May." He nodded with an innocent smirk, ignorant to his apparent longevity.

Sylvie gasped, her tiara falling off her head "It's your birthday again so soon, Mister Pride?" The black haired child nodded, lightly patting the top of his flask, still as perfect as the day he had left it. She frowned a little "You'll be ninety-four…time is moving so fast…I can't believe…" Pride frowned as well, looking away to aimlessly inspect the melon she'd brought, bigger than the previous few, she said melons were 'summer fruits', he always got the best ones June and July.

"I'm being melodramatic again…aren't I?" Pride caught sight of her mischievous grin, and imitated it as well as he could, sighing in relief, she'd realized what she was doing.

"Quite, Miss Sylvie."

"I'm sorry, I don't have any reason to be unhappy…But anyway, it's your _birthday_! I must begin arrangements as soon as I get home. This one will be even better than last year's! I promise!" Pride gave her a look; he didn't want her bringing anyone other than her father down here, Father wouldn't be happy, he didn't like dealing with humans that weren't important. "It'd just be me of course, but I'll make sure it won't be boring, I can sing I suppose…and…um…" she glanced down at the melon and her eyes lit up "…A birthday cake! I'll ask Miss Winifred to bake you one. A melon birthday cake, it'll be wonderful…" She smirked at him "and…It means you'll have eaten something Amestrian! So I'd have won after two years!"

Pride tilted his head, raising his eyebrow at her early celebrations "Say…" Sylvie turned to him "Is cake like…bread…Miss Sylvie?" Her lip twitched, she lowered her hands into her lap

"Well…we call it cake…but it's actually…just…bread…we just… bake it differently…" The homunculus nodded, pretending that he understood, carrying on.

"Oh, because I've eaten bread before." Sylvie's gleeful smile twisted into a pout before he could prepare his timid apology. She just glared at him, her almost ten year old hands tightening on her dress. He shrank away from her.

Then one of her eyes closed, and she was smiling again.

"Ah, Pride, feel free to make as many excuses as you wish, try as you might, you are merely delaying the inevitable" Sylvie leaned forward to poke at his nose, and playfully brushed some hair out of his eyes. "Anyway, enough of that, I will ask Miss Lust to help me with your birthday plans. But…what can we do until then…?" She glanced around, her gaze focusing on Pride's Father, sitting on his chair as usual, a strange light washing over them from somewhere; she looked back, to her own faint shadow, stuck to the stair wall. Inspiration struck, and she grinned.

"Mister Pride, do you have any candles?"

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Lust slowly pushed open the door to Father's lair with her foot, closing it behind her with a more willful kick of her heel. Her fingernails clacked together as she went, far too long to curl her hand into a fist, spotless black gloves folded over them.

_They should have been drenched._

She lazily ran her gaze over the room; Father was sleeping, but the dimness of the room was enough to give her a hint. The King of Amestris was sitting content on his usual stool, watching something near to her, though Pride and his 'precious' princess seemed to be absent, she crept down the stairs, careful not to make a sound. She scowled at the sight.

Pride was there, leaning forward, a wide curious smile on his face, a small candle in front of him, beside his flask. His shadow stretched back to her feet, flickering in time. At one particular something he giggled, and his shadow seemed to contort by itself, a genial ripple running through it. Lust had seen it move by itself a few times, she had always assumed it a trick of the light, not a remnant of his previous form, certainly not.

Sylvie's shadow did no such things, all its movement carefully coordinated on command, as she made nonsensical shapes with her hands, and yet forming animals on the wall, Lust could tell Pride was transfixed by it; he had yet to even acknowledge her presence.

"Now, this is a horse." Once the shape had formed Pride's shadow suddenly went taut, receding back to his container, which had gone pale and was clinging to his flask, seeking comfort and protection, and shuddering when she imitated the noise it made. It was only when his princess had moved onto the 'bird' did the false-child allow himself to relax, even if he didn't seem to understand what had made him dislike that particular 'animal'.

The emotion that Lust was _not _named for, the anger that she shouldn't have been able to feel, it faded slightly at the sight of Pride afraid, it was to be expected, his body had died by being trampled by the animal, a small part of the boy had bled through to Pride's own thoughts and feelings, however trivial they were. Lust needn't concern herself with it.

She decided to make her presence known, stepping forward, making the tip of her shoe brush against Pride's shadow. The older homunculus perked up, turning to face her. His grin widened, and he hurried to catch his princess's attention, ignorant to the length of her nails, or her tightly knitted brow.

Sylvie bowed to her in respect, clearing her throat as she happily shifted her weight from one sandaled foot to the other.

"I was wondering…Miss Lust, if…well…"

"_There's something I'd like to ask you." _Lust's teeth clenched at the innocent enough words, the echo of _his_ words, her scowl deepened

Sylvie decided to look up, her smile faded, and she scuffed her foot against the floor, stuttering.

"Um…you see, it's Pride's birthday in a few months, and since you're his sister…" Lust's expression didn't change, and the young princess's attempts to continue, as well as her enthusiasm, died away.

"What have you been doing?" Her voice was cold, Sylvie had never heard it before, Lust adored Pride more than anything, even if she knew Lust was only six years old, she bore the mannerisms of an adult well, and if she didn't know better she would have assumed her to be Pride's older sister without hesitation. This change in personality scared her so, she was the princess of Amestris, no one spoke ill of her, no one spoke badly _to_ her, father wouldn't have allowed it. But homunculi weren't human, they weren't her father's subjects, it had become obvious long ago that they were _their _subjects instead.

"I…I was just…" Her face went ashen as she noticed Lust's sharpened fingernails, she gulped, those could do quite a bit of damage, but homunculi were nice, Pride was friendly and gentle, but so was Lust, usually. "P-Pride and I were just playing with shadow puppets…s-see?" Her imitation of a rabbit came out horribly deformed, her hands were shaking.

"Oh, is that so?" Lust's mouth twisted into a smirk, and she laughed humourlessly at her. Sylvie almost flinched. "Well, I know someone…" She pressed a pointed finger into her nose, looming over her. Sylvie didn't move away, enduring the pain, blinking hard to herself as she felt her lip quiver. "…who could wipe the floor with your so called '_shadows'_" Lust gave Pride a sideways glance "and wipe the floor with you_._" The insults cut into her far more than Lust's nails ever could.

Through it all Pride didn't budge, he didn't understand why Lust was acting strange, but didn't want to question it until she'd finished talking with Sylvie, their plans for his birthday were secret, he didn't want to ruin the surprise. Sylvie didn't seem to be saying anything, but Lust was scrunching her face up tighter anyway.

"You… Spoilt. Little. Wretch!" Sylvie shrank back as Lust smacked her hands away, biting back a yelp "You've been waited on hand and foot every day of your life by those blank faced toadies, and you have the nerve to _cry_? ! Do you see _me_ crying? ! Well, do you? !" The princess couldn't find any words; she didn't want to make Lust even angrier, even though, through her blurred vision she could see that Lust, whose cheeks had flared pink, out of place in her pale complexion, had began to cry as well. She cradled her arm, feeling a trickle of warmth from beneath her torn glove. Her back hit the stair wall, and she sank to the floor, huddling as tight as she could as she saw Lust raising her hand again, bracing herself for the end, the fire in Lust's eyes enough to convince her that was all that awaited her, useless humans meant nothing to homunculi, and Pride, well, Pride wouldn't act against his little sister, his father wouldn't hear of it.

"Please be more careful, Lust. You almost stood on my flask, and almost knocked over Father's candle."

Pride crawled between them as if it was the most trivial of things, holding his flask in one hand, pressing it contently into his chest and feeling the little rhythms that came from inside, the candle's holder in the other.

"You've finished planning out my birthday surprise…right, Lust?" His smile forced whatever remained of her wrath to dissipate, her eyes clearing.

Laboured, undignified sobs continued to spill from Sylvie's mouth, she tried to stifle them, but knew nothing would heal her injured pride quickly, while she sat in a heap in the true Pride's shadow, the deceptively young looking boy the only thing protecting her from the sorrow filled, if immature woman that stood only a few feet away. Trying to push herself onto her feet, she gripped onto the wall, Pride stirred at that, turning to face her, her shawl still sitting on his thin shoulders.

"Sylvie, your eyes are leaking…" He frowned, wiping at her cheeks and studying the liquid that had formed there "Is something wrong?" She had to smile weakly at his purity, shifting to hide her arm; no doubt her glove had been stained scarlet by now.

"Nothing, Mister P-Pride…just a little upset, that's all." She watched as Lust seemed to realize just what she'd done and walk off to who knew where, the Amestrian princess couldn't care less. "But we should be going now, please…en-enjoy your melon, Pride. Please can I have my shawl back?" Pride nodded, red beginning to creep into his own cheeks, he didn't like seeing her 'upset', and he found himself blinking more often than normal.

"Father…We need to go now…" She started breathing funny, biting into her lip and wrapping herself tighter in her shawl, running up the stairs as fast as she could. She waited at the top of the first landing for her father to catch up. His eyes streaming for a reason he couldn't define, he pushed himself to his feet and approached the King of Amestris, grabbing tiny fistfuls of his robe

"Why is Miss Sylvie upset, did I do something wrong?" The King stared down at him, remaining silent "Please tell me." Pride tugged desperately at his cloak, his sash slipping off his shoulder and falling in a loop on the floor "you need to answer me; you talk to Father so you can…" The eldest sin wore himself out after a few minutes, sinking to the floor, murmuring 'I'm Pride…I'm…' over and over, until he covered his eyes and gave in to the horrible new feeling that had arisen without warning.

"These emotions are new to someone like you, Master Pride?" The homunculus nodded through his sobs "Well, I'm afraid that you will need to ask your sister for why my daughter is so distraught, I hope you will understand." The King's silk robe disappeared from his sight, and Pride blindly sought his flask, accidently extinguishing the candle's flame. The room fell into darkness.

Sylvie watched him from her place on the stairs, the bleeding had stopped now, but whatever excuse she gave to Miss Winifred would be not sufficient enough. She hated to leave him in such a state, but she had no choice, if Lust decided to come back…

"Goodbye, Mister Pride…" He didn't answer her, but looked in her general direction.

"S-See you." He wouldn't notice that she didn't add the 'later', such a luxury wasn't definite anymore.

With a sigh and a wave, and perhaps a strained bow, the Amestrian Princess continued up the stairs to where she called home, leaving the child-like shape of her friend in the dark, to remain there alone, while his Father slept and his sister did who knew what, the emotion he only knew as 'upset' clamping around his heart.

Pride kept himself curled up, his legs tight against his chest, sleeves covering his eyes and flask beside him.

And throughout, his barely visible shadow lay around him like a puddle, quivering in time with his sobs, expressing his isolated despair more than his timid container ever could.

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The missing scene of what made Lust so ticked off will be slightly cleared up next chapter.

I hate to leave this chapter on such a downer :''(, but now that fluff's over what can I do?


	23. More Changes

A/N: Hi everyone, just updating, will add rest of author's note later.

Review replies:

Moofy-Fan:

Yes, I still make Pride suffer so much. We shall see about your prediction about Lust though…right now XD

I just love making Pride freak out over his status in comparison to Father, I can't help it

And Yay for bunnies+emotions, I will make some more up soon for when I go into different genres ^.^

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Arakawa-sensei owns this as usual

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Twenty-Three: More Changes**

**September 24th 1685**

Once a budding entrepreneur, Jack hugged his coat tighter to himself, making sure he didn't look at anyone the wrong way.

"So, what's your name?" The nurse-maid spoke up, glancing to and fro and scribbling in her notebook as she went.

"Oh, it's Jack, Jack Sutcliffe."

"And…who do you want to see?" She turned around at that, as if a little sympathetic, it was obvious that, whoever he may have been visiting, if they were _here_ of all places, was not in their right mind.

"Um…a Miss 'Luna', I'm not sure how long she's been staying here…I…I don't think that's her real name, since she used to be a…a…" He couldn't bring himself to say it. The woman nodded, flipping through her notes.

"L, L…hm…Lucas…Lucian…Lucy, the other Lucy….Luna, here we go. Real name Q…Qu…_Queuezoo_, sh…shoey-eh? Whatever, something weird like that. Parents were from Xing so what can you expect, they immigrated here when she was five. She's in here willingly, no relatives to decide for her." Jack frowned, he never did ask what happened to her family, he knew she probably didn't want to talk about it, but did she not trust him enough to tell him her real name?

"Don't look so glum, she didn't tell us all this straight away. She only told us for convenience sakes. But you're sorta out of luck if you're planning on talking to her, she hardly talks to anyone these days- gone completely loopy, not violent like, just doesn't acknowledge anyone. Mind you, you're the second visitor she's got, so she might look at you, don't be expecting much though." The nurse stopped in front of a room identical to the rest other than the letter carved into the door, after getting it unlocked the nurse motioned him to go inside. She tapped his shoulder as he went through

"Don't be doing anything stupid now, remember that this one's got that _'Disease from Creta'_, if you know what I mean, that's what she's in here for- yep, made her flip her lid good 'n' proper." Jack nodded, and closed the door behind him.

The room was better than he expected, a clean enough floor, a lump of cloth stuffed with what looked like straw serving as a mattress in the corner, and a small plate in the middle of the floor, a rotten apple core sitting on it. The rays of the setting sun shone through the barred hole in the wall in lazy orange streaks, the doctors said it was good for the willing 'residents' to see daylight, catch glimpses of the outside world from time to time, the sunlight wasn't obscured by buildings, the asylum was nowhere near the town centre, so far that no one would venture out in simple curiosity.

None of these things held Jack's interest for particularly long, his gaze drawn to the curled up figure in the far end of the room, now scraggly black hair obscuring her eyes, torn, dirty yellow cloak stretching only to her knees. Her shoes had gone, so had her black gloves, her pale arms visible, wrapped around her knees. She didn't raise her head as he stepped closer, as if asleep.

"Remember what I said? That I thought you'd been hauled off to the crazy house? It seems awfully ironic now, doesn't it?"

"Who are you? Why have you come here?" Her voice was cold, distant, she didn't move an inch

"Luna, it's me, Jack, I've been meaning to visit you for a while, but I've been…scared, I suppose" Luna curled herself tighter

"I know no such person. Please leave now, person called Jack, I have no business with you." Jack stepped back at her tone, sharp, bitter, but sincere- her illness must have confused her, she'd forgotten about him…still…

"You may no longer remember, but I feel that I need to tell you this, Luna" He squatted down, leaning over to try and catch a glimpse of her eyes- such a peculiar colour they were, that unique blend of purple and pink, even if Iris used to insist they were green, perhaps her illness had changed her eye colour as well. "I'm leaving Central; I don't know when I'll be back. Isabelle wants to spend some time in the countryside- you know that New Optain? Well, she wants to get away from town life for a while, says she doesn't want the baby to be born in such busy conditions- can't say I blame her really." She never even looked up "It's been over a year since…" He couldn't bring himself to say it, tiptoeing around the problem "I can't believe it, I can't believe I'm going to be a father soon…"

"Must be nice…" Jack didn't know whether she was being sarcastic or not. He scratched at the back of his neck.

"I feel terrible though, we'll be visiting Iris- Father sent her away a couple of years ago, she just couldn't keep working after her baby…" He coughed, Luna was smart enough to figure it out "I bet she thinks we're so selfish, to be staying at her house, to have our own baby…" Luna just mumbled something about never thinking Iris as one to get herself pregnant, completely unaffected by the news.

"But I'm just skirting 'round the issue like usual…What I want to say, before I go…is that…" Jack inched ever closer, nervously tugging at the moustache he'd managed to grow over the last few months- made him look older.

"I'm sorry, Luna, I shouldn't have sprung it on you so quickly, I should have told you about Isabelle before asking you if you wanted to be her bridesmaid. I suppose that, with all you'd been through…you misread my intentions, but that shouldn't ruin our friendship, I don't want to leave here thinking you hate me, even if you may do, I want to be sure."

"You speak to the wrong woman."

"Perhaps, perhaps I'm just a fool who wants to clear his conscience before he runs away from his mistakes, but selfish as it is, I'm ok with that, because even if you don't remember, I _know _you're my Luna."

"Believe what you will, makes no difference to me." Jack stood back up, walking towards the door, assuming that nonchalant remarks were all he was going to get from her.

"So, have you been this unsympathetic since you ran away? Or…"

"The disease, this wretched, _wretched_ disease, ever since…c-c-can't remember much anymore, don't know what I used to be like…so long it's been since I…"

"You know, I really thought he would have liked being all dressed up for the wedding. Did you ever tell him about it? Luna…are you listening? I'm talking about Miles." Luna gasped at the name, raising her head faster than he thought possible.

"'_Miles_…?' Who is…" she trailed off, her green eyes widening and filling up "Miles! Miles, Miles! Of course! How could I forget…? You…you've seen him?" Jack nodded slowly "How was he? ! How old is he now? ! Is he alright, without me, is he ok? !" She stared up at him, eyes frantic, longing, no doubt concerned for her brother, and rightly so.

She continued on for many minutes, asking him many random questions that would probably be sensible in her eyes, like how old Miles was now, how well he had been eating, if he has been coping without her. Most of his answers had been guesses, and lies, all for her sake, she didn't need anything else ruining her mood, living in this place must have been bad enough.

"All alone…for so long, such a terrible excuse of a parent…sister I am…" Jack paused, trying to think of something to reassure her

"It must have been difficult, being forced to look after yourself and Miles at such a young age…how old were-?"

"Thirteen, I'm…t-twenty-s-seven now…I think…. it's been so long since I've been outside…"

"Why didn't you ask him to visit you? Or why don't you leave yourself? You're in here willingly, so surely you can l-"

"You think I want him to know that I'm in here? So he can see me in this state? Realize what a shameful little tart I was? I left because I didn't want him to think this was his fault, that he'd somehow caused it, I tried so hard to keep him out of that part of my life, If he found out he'd end up blaming himself, think I considered him nothing but another mouth to feed, that's the kind of boy he is…was…" Luna pushed herself further into the wall, wiping at one of her eyes "Besides...I thought that…if I completely lost it while I was outside, that I might…might not be able to stop myself, I might've hurt him, and who would he go to then, alone, without a person in the world he could say loved him? ! It's better he remember me…how I used to be…"

Jack didn't speak a word as she gave in to her despair, curling up as she had been before, cursing herself from time to time in a broken, disjointed blend of Amestrian and occasional Xingese. She carried on for over half an hour, and he wondered if she had been bottling her emotions up since she first came here, and him visiting had made her realize everything she'd missed, or whether she lamented over her previous mistakes over and over, incapable of making amends.

Eventually she put her legs straight, and stared out the window, pale streaks of silver falling on her face- the moon had begun to rise- he'd been here far too long.

"Luna…before I go, I want to know. What's your real name? Since you were born in Xing…and…I would assume…that Luna is your..._work name_, shall we say?"

"Crescent moon tonight…lovely isn't it, Mister person-called-Jack?" She smiled at it, a hollow smile, genuine, but at the same time false, fake, like a smile without any meaning.

"Very beautiful, it's nice that you can get such a good view of it." Luna nodded

"You wanted to know my birth-name?" She spoke it as a trivial thing, as if she was too adjusted to her alias to consider it her real one anymore, it only serving as another secret she kept hidden from everyone. "…Fine. I'll tell you, if you promise not to tell anyone you have come here, and speak not a word of anything to Miles, I'll know it was you if he visits here in the near future."

"I promise. You have my word." She didn't move, watching intently through her only constant connection to the outside world.

"…It's…" Luna paused, as if dragging the name out of the somewhere deep inside her mind, someplace she never wanted to remember "…It's…_Qi_… _Qiuyue_; don't try to pronounce it yourself, you won't get it right."

"I see, thank you for sharing such a secret with me, even though you say you don't know me"

"I don't. But…you know Miles, so, I want you to answer me something." Her fingers dug into the windowsill, nails lightly scraping against the stone, it reminded him of that day…

_Oh, so that was all it was, you felt a bit sorry for the first woman you saw on the street? ! Did you pick up this Isabelle like that, and she just happened to be picked before me? !_

He would never know how her nails looked so much longer back then, on that day, a trick of the light he was sure, or perhaps merely hoped it was an illusion.

"Is Miles…is he happy? Not in general, but the last time you saw him. I know he probably misses me, but…is he living okay? Does he…can he have a good life? I don't want him turning out the same way I did…ending up…" drops of silver began trickling down her cheeks, her eyes clouding over.

Jack hadn't seen Miles since a year before she ran away, rumours about him were infrequent, and nonsense at best, the current one was that had died long ago, and wandered aimlessly around as a ghost, some used that as the excuse for why he had been seen wearing better quality clothes, why his eyes had changed colour, and why he carried a flask around with him- representations of his pure, if sorrow-filled soul, the flask showing his clear, untainted innocence. He had no idea how people could actually believe such things. None of these were sufficient, and he thought it better to make something up than admit having no idea of his well-being.

"He's fine, he misses you, but he does all he can to be happy, waiting for when you'll come back." Luna sighed in relief, resting her head on the window sill,

"Oh, oh thank goodness, I'm so glad he's safe, I thought something terrible had happened to him… my precious…little one…I hope one day he'll understand why I needed to leave him…all alone…" She glanced at him through the corner of her eye, returning to the window view after a moment "If you could…why don't you take him with you? Away from this place, there's nothing for him here, no one will know him in this 'New Optain', a fresh start would be good for him, and if Iris lives there now…" He faltered, she'd believed him, and now she wanted him to take Miles away? Well, if it put her mind at rest…

"I'll ask Isabelle if I can, but he might not want to leave you, since he still thinks you're working and going to come back one day." She ignored him,

"Thank you, Jack, I want Miles to…have the best life he can, one I couldn't provide him, please look after him." She sighed again, her eyelids drooping "Such a nice moon tonight…I wonder…if he can see it too…but…" she was sliding down the wall now, curling back up "it will be a long time before you see me again, I'm glad…I'm…so… glad…Miles…my…" She trailed off with a final relaxed sigh, slowly falling against the back wall. Jack prayed that she'd only fallen asleep.

"Lun- I mean Qiuyue…are you ok?" The Xingese woman didn't reply, and he caught sight of something, despite everything she'd been through, despite having nothing but memories and doctors for company for so many years, she was smiling- a serene, genuine smile. Jack didn't know whether to call the nurse-maid, he needed to be going anyway "I'd best be off, I suppose this is goodbye… " Jack put his top hat on, giving it a short tilt for the sake of good manners "it's been nice seeing you." With that, he turned on his heels, and left the insane woman without another word.

Now all he had to do was find Miles.

He didn't know that, however hard he tried, he would never find him, nor would he realize what coincidental truth lay in those random gossips about the little orphan boy. Below, deep beneath the royal family's castle, in the room only a select few were aware of- most of whom inhuman. In the centre of that room, sat two children, playing chess- the knights were absent, not lost, they'd just started the game without them, it was for the best. The girl adjusted her tiara before making her move, pondering whether to move her queen like any sensible princess should, or waste time moving pawns about, she may have not been that well learned in chess, but he was even less so, and she wanted him to win, the remorseful gaze of the woman behind her made it a certainty, she was walking a thin line now, chances were that things would never return to the way they used to be.

The boy watched curiously, the peculiar purple eyes that his father had given to him shining, delighted by this new game she had brought, even if there was that _one_ _little _setback at the beginning. He reached for the piece that was the black queen, that piece could move wherever it wanted, and by his reasoning that was the most useful.

This boy was not Miles, Miles was gone, he had died, long ago.

And yet there he was, an inhuman creature living inside his altered corpse, living through it, moving it this way and that without a second thought, the false child knew nothing of death, knew nothing of his container's true origins, he had no reason to doubt his Father.

But it seemed, Luna, delirious as she was, had been right.

It _would_ be a very long time until they saw each other again.

0 * 0 * 0

**June 30th 1693**

"Miss Sylvie, where are we going?" The now one-hundred-and-three-year-old homunculus followed cautiously behind her, he didn't know why everyone was making such a fuss of him going somewhere with Sylvie.

She'd changed over the years; she'd changed so much, Pride didn't even try to pretend he was getting taller, he didn't even practice stretching his container anymore; he'd given up after he had realized he only stood in line with the strange lumps that had suddenly appeared on her chest, and that was over four years ago. Her tiara had gained two more of those shiny blue stones, and her hair had got so long that she decided splitting it in three pieces and wrapping them around each other and tying it up against her head would keep it out of the way. Her dress had lost the stripe that ran around it near her waist, and it had grown arms decorated with purple tips and had stretched down to the floor now, she didn't wear sandals anymore either.

Only her shawl stayed the same, it looked smaller on her, but it still fit him perfectly. He didn't know if her gloves had changed any, she never let him see her arms anymore, saying that it wasn't proper 'etiquette' for a young woman to roll her sleeves so high, occasionally rubbing her one of her arms for no reason, always her right one, and Lust always looked a little sad for a moment when she did that, he never understood why.

"Why, I'm taking you upstairs Pride, I want you to meet everyone in the castle, like my servants…and my mother" Pride groaned a little at that "oh don't be like that Pride, it'll be fun, I promise. But first, the royal flower garden has fully bloomed now, so I want to show you that as well."

Preparations for today had been…numerous to say the least. Father had made an overly large tub using his alchemy, and Lust had reluctantly given him a bath. Bathing was a strange thing, Pride thought, being completely surrounded by warm water, it felt so…odd, but soothing at the same time. He couldn't breathe underwater, and after a while his chest started burning, but it wasn't so bad, nothing happened to him, and he amused himself watching the bubbles escape his mouth as she washed his hair. Pride didn't like not wearing clothes though, he felt so nervous for some reason without the robe father had given him, the parts of his body that lay under his clothes were…weird, yet boring. The hole in his stomach that Lust had told him was his 'belly-button', a thing that apparently served to connect humans to their 'mothers' before they started existing and were little more than parasites, his wasn't real of course, made by Father for the sake of being convincing, but having something that would imply he _had _a mother… he would be content in never seeing it again. Lust had seemed embarrassed as well, most of the time keeping her eyes closed as she washed his body. She cut a bit of his hair off with sharp looking things she called scissors, and given him some 'poofy' white cloth for him to wear under his newly cleaned robe. He still didn't know why all these things were necessary, they'd never been necessary before.

"Oh, that'll be good…I suppose." He found himself reaching for her hand, no warmth came through her gloves, but he convinced himself it was reassuring.

"Sylvie." His voice was firmer than he intended, and she stopped walking instantly, as if she had been expecting him to say something "What's wrong? You don't seem…" Sylvie sighed

"You know I'm nineteen now, don't you Pride?" He nodded, and he also knew that she had been much happier at her birthday back in April. "Well, Father thinks I should be getting married soon, to the prince of Aerugo."

"You've been planning it…" Pride paused to count with his fingers "since you were seven…so…twelve years, and that's a long time for humans, isn't it? But…I don't underst-"

"What I mean is that…I will need to see him before actually marrying him, and for that I..." she glanced down; he clearly didn't understand what she was implying. She kneeled down, resting her hands on his shoulders

"Pride, I know I shouldn't talk down to you like this, but…what I mean is…" Pride was smiling, more delighted that she was going to tell him her 'secret', oblivious to the fact that the secret obviously wasn't good if it was making her nervous. Sylvie sighed again, she'd just need to tell him outright "I'm leaving Amestris; I'm going to Aerugo to meet him. So I won't be able to visit you." His smile didn't falter, he still didn't realize.

"For how long?"

"For…a while"

"How long's '_a while'_? Until next year?"

"I…I don't know. It may be two years…might be five…hopefully not any longer than that…" He was _still _smiling, he just _didn't_… "no, you don't… that means I won't be able to see you for over six hundred days, or over a thousand days. Pride, that's…I won't visit you for…over twenty-four times, maybe sixty if I stay for five years, don't you understand that?" Pride frowned at her tone, staring up.

"I understand Sylvie…but…this is important to you, isn't it?" He paused for a moment to see if she was nodding, continuing on anyway "so…I don't mind waiting…if you need to go…" She couldn't react for a moment, he wasn't reacting negatively? He wasn't clinging onto her dress, tears in his eyes, begging her not to leave? She supposed she ought to be glad he was taking it so well.

"You really aren't a child; sometimes I forget myself…I'm sorry." He grinned, and giggled as she slowly tousled his hair, betraying her statement almost immediately, she pulled away suddenly as she realized that she too was betraying her words.

"You'll definitely come back though, won't you?"

"Of course I will, soon as I can."

"Promise?" Sylvie couldn't help but smile at the paradox of wisdom and innocence; he was so mature one minute, and so uncertain the next.

"I promise, Pride. _And_, I promise to bring you back the biggest melon I can find!" As he helped her up, she thought it appropriate to change the subject. "But, if this is to be our last day together for a while, then we ought to spend it enjoying ourselves." She took his hand in hers, and walked briskly along, nearing the exit of his Father's lair, and into her own home "Come along, Pride, much to see, first there's the gardens, then the ballroom, oh, and then we can…" She listed off more and more rooms, more and more things they could go, places they could visit in the castle, even if both of them knew that they would perhaps visit only three or four of them, but neither of them minded in the slightest.

Their final short hours together could not be wasted on such thoughts.

0 * 0 * 0

"You can move, you know."

"But you may _not_, your Highness, we want this portrait to be perfect for the Aerugan prince, do we not?" Sylvie stood up straight again, merely giving Pride a glance and a smile.

They hadn't time for this, there were hundreds of other things they could be doing, but if Father desired it…

Pride smiled back, watching with his usual curious gaze as Sylvie seemed to stop moving all together, posed for her 'portrait', whatever that was, resting her hands on the elaborately decorated stool that lay on her right, for no reason other than Mr. Painter thought it would make the 'painting' look better. There was a plain piece of cloth hanging from the ceiling as well, that was cut in a point just above where he imagined her ankles would be, apparently it was more convenient to let the artist use his imagination for that part, even if she _had _whispered what she wanted him to draw over it. Pride's smile twitched a little at that, and unbeknownst to him, his shadow contorted along the wall, as if becoming restless.

"What do you wish to be in the background, your highness?" Sylvie didn't reply straight away, considering her options while trying to keep at still as possible.

"Perhaps, a wall behind, but you can see the corner, and in the space…perhaps the windows, shining light down the hallway." He nodded.

"A fine choice your highness, I assure you, this will be my finest work." He didn't say anything more, fully focused on the painting.

Minutes passed in silence, and eventually Pride's curiosity got the better of him. He pushed himself off the spare stool, and padded over to where Mr. Painter was working. He didn't acknowledge Pride's presence, dipping his fluffy-quill-like-thing in what looked like thick green ink.

"Hello Mister Painter, are you almost finished?" The preoccupied man didn't turn to him

"Hello, Little one, if I may, what is your affiliation with our dear Princess?"

"Please answer my question first." He stopped 'drawing', looking down at him, what kind of child was this, to talk back to an adult with such audacity?

"Perfection takes time, Little one, you should have more patience, but if you really insist…I have completed enough for the princess to leave. Now, who…_are_ you, little…" He glanced down the carefully stitched piece of cloth on his robe- Pride's new _corrected _nametag. "…Selim?" Sylvie overheard, and hurried over.

"I should have introduced you earlier, _this_" She rested a hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze, not that he needed it "is Pride."

"Then why is he using another person's clothes, are they stolen? I'm certain your Father would not approve you bringing an urchin off the street into the castle." Pride didn't know what an 'urchin', but it sounded unpleasant, and he was anything but _unpleasant._

"_No_, Mr. Painter, Selim's my name for when I'm pretending to be a human."

"_Pretending_?" He turned to Sylvie, every so often giving him a cautious glance "I'm afraid I am completely lost in this conversation, your Highness…who," another look "I mean _what_ is this boy?" The princess only sighed; did everyone who wasn't Winifred or her mother have some difficulty in connecting the dots? Pride was not such a common name that this one wasn't obviously the Pride she had been visiting almost every month for the last twelve years.

"As I have been _attempting_ to explain, this is Pride, he's the son of the sage of the East, please refrain from treating him like a child."

The Royal artist just stared at him for a few seconds, running his eyes over him; this feeble, pale, black-haired little boy, who was carrying about a flask for no reason, related to the Sage of the East?

"What is the flask for, may I ask?"

"It's the flask I was born in." He clung to it protectively at that, pressing it into chest "…it is important" He said it with such confidence, such certainty. It seemed too ridiculous and farfetched to _not_ be true.

"I…see" It made sense now, somewhat, his robes were not worn, but ancient, and his tone was not unjust arrogance, but age-old wisdom "It's wonderful to meet such an important person such as yourself, well, a person as important as the princess I'm sure" Pride shook his hand, but there was no meaning in it, like he did not understand it's purpose, he probably didn't.

"Do you want to go elsewhere, Pride? There are still a few hours left." The boy turned on his heels, holding onto the princess' hand like she was a mere commoner, walking towards the door.

"Master Pride," The boy stopped, looking back at him, purple eyes sparkling, fingers lightly drumming on the flask "how old are you?"

"I'm One-Hundred-and-Three, my birthday's in May." Pride blinked, waiting for a reply, frowning a little as he didn't receive one "Must go now. Goodbye, Mister Painter" He waved at him with an innocent smile, before carrying on. The false child was humouring him; he was sure, and as he walked down the hallway with the princess who was almost a century younger than him, that she had been acquainted with since she was a child of the same height, his shadow looking ever so slightly distorted, rippling contently, a hint of something mysterious beneath it all, he thought it was perhaps the most peculiar thing he had ever seen. But the princess adored him so, that much was certain, who could know how much she valued him as a friend.

The royal painter looked to his canvas, the blank side which would incorporate the princess' request had plenty room for improvisation. The bouts of inspiration for which he was known were threatening to strike, and he had no choice but to comply.

What harm would a blurred image of an eccentric child hidden in the shadows behind the royal banner do?

If anyone asked, it was a trick of the lighting.

0 * 0 * 0

It made no sense, he couldn't grasp the idea, or the purpose, or the _anything _really_, _only that Sylvie had insisted they try it and see how it turned out.

Sylvie gave a meaningful nod to the people across the room, who stared at him questioningly for a moment, and started messing with the strange things they were holding, a faint, gentle tune reached him.

"I don't…why are we…?" Pride shifted his weight, he didn't want Sylvie to be uncomfortable, but she had insisted he stand on her feet, the reason eluded him even now.

"This is a _dance_, Pride, I thought it would be interesting, just stay on my feet so you don't need to learn the steps." He nodded, holding tight onto her hands, the creases running through her silk gloves holding his interest. "If only you were a little taller...I jest Pride, you're the perfect size the way you are." Sylvie didn't give him chance to take her words to heart, but Pride was in good spirits it seemed, and for a moment managed to stretch his strange little body up to her height (earning a rather loud and unprofessional gasp from the orchestra), but snapped back into shape just as quickly, his legs quivering from the strain, but he smiled through it.

The song slowly built itself up, and she moved suddenly, gracefully prancing from one foot to the other, smiling down at him all the while as he tried to keep his footing.

Sylvie slowed her steps, turning in a small circle now, looking past him to the paintings on the wall, and he caught sight of something that he wished to never see again, but he thought it better to ask about it

"Why do you insist on prolonging the existence of my drawing, Miss Sylvie? And why is it white and green?"

"Well, for one, I still like it, even after all these years, but since you didn't want me saying it was yours…I changed it a little bit" Pride was grateful it looked almost nothing like his original, much more like what he assume was 'lion-ish', but he doubted he would ever see a real lion. "And it's changed colour because…Well, Lust's is red…and since Lust…" she let go of his hand to scratch at her arm "since _that_, I thought I should change the background to green, green is such a soft, calming colour, don't you think?" She didn't see him nod "and after that it didn't look right, so I changed your…_my_ lion-dragon to white instead…and I think it looks…nice."

Pride nodded lazily, his legs shaking a little, Sylvie sighed, this was the last thing they would do together, it was all her fault, even if Pride wasn't a child, the soothing melody of the royal orchestra would make anyone unfamiliar with dancing tired, it was no wonder she used to have them compose and perform lullabies when she was a child herself. His eyelids fluttered a little, and his legs collapsed beneath him. The homunculus wrapped his hands around her waist to stop himself falling, and raised his tired eyes so that they met her own, his cheeks pink with shame at being too exhausted to continue.

"Come, it's time to take you home, Mister Pride."

0 * 0 * 0

"This is goodbye…isn't it?" He could see right through her attempts to be regal and sophisticated and distant, she was failing, and all her thoughts to somehow prolong their remaining time together only ended in wasting more of it.

She had never seen Pride so tired before, he had been dragging his feet along the underground path to the place he called 'home' for the last twenty minutes, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve, walking with them almost completely closed. Almost dropping his flask when he almost tripped had woken him up enough but it seemed that, inhuman as he was, he needed his rest just like any human.

"I'm afraid so." Her attempts to hide the obvious quiver in her voice were failing as well.

"You won't forget about me…will you?"

"Of course I won't, you're just tired, you aren't thinking straight, I shouldn't have kept you out so long." Pride sniffed, wiping at the tears he knew would be forming.

"Here, I'll give you this" she reached into one of the pockets in her sleeve, digging out a small golden crown. "It's my 'tiara' from when I was a baby, Father…was expecting a boy, bought the most expensive gold he could find…but since I was…me, princesses wear silver instead…I want you to look after it, to remember me." Pride accepted it silently, tucking it into his hood. Sylvie almost smiled at the thought that one day she might return with a child of her own, and perhaps they too could grow up with the child-like homunculus as a friend.

"Thank you, I will protect it. But…what will you remember me by?" He thought for a moment, before looking to his flask, and tugging at one of the corks. He was too weak, and offered the right spout to her; she pulled the cork out with little difficulty "My good-bye present to you, Miss Sylvie, my flask is…precious to me…I was born in it, so…the cork is a part of me too…right?" His lip twitched, and he blinked hard to himself "You know I…I don't want you to go…I know it's important…but I…I'm sorry, please pay no attention" Sylvie knelt down, biting into her lip, why did he have to be so…why did he have to care so much…?

He was bawling by now, fighting sleep for so long was making him delirious, half crying from his sadness, half crying in disgust and shame of himself for letting himself get so upset.

Sylvie couldn't stand seeing him in such a state, and pulled him close, wrapping her arms around him. His surprised little gasp was exactly the same as it was on the first day, all those years ago.

"Oh Pride, you betray your name so much, you humble considerate caring amazing extraordinary creature you, please do not scold yourself, and if you insist on such, that you think it wrong, and selfish to miss me, then I too shall punish myself, for I shall miss you too, I shall miss you every day." She swallowed back a sob "All our words, since the day we met, were deliberately verbose, and as sophisticated and complex as our fathers desired them, as they expected them to be, but…but that did not make them any less sincere, any less heartfelt. So be calm, Pride, my dearest friend, however old you truly are, and though you are of higher class than me, and are superior to us humans in every way, you are my friend, but…but this is where we must part ways." She felt him nod into her shoulder, hugging himself close to her, his sobs slowing while hers only threatened to make themselves known.

"You are tired, but…I will not force you to walk any further" She gulped, and cleared her throat, and began to sing the song she'd been perfecting for over a decade. "For you, Pride."

"Oh…You finally…made…words…for…it…Sylvi…"

The tune forced him to relax, and he gave her a final glace, well aware that the next time he closed his eyes he wouldn't open them again for many hours, and then she'd be gone. His vision was too blurred, and he just smiled dopily at the patch of gold that danced along his shoulder. Pride sighed again, and knew no more.

…

The princess of Amestris didn't bother to wipe away her tears, standing up, the surprisingly light body of a homunculus in her arms, and walked slowly down the path to his father's home.

It wasn't proper.

It wasn't appropriate of a princess.

But she didn't care.

He was her friend, and that was all that mattered.

In front of the door to his home she curtsied, as she was supposed to.

"Until we meet again, Mister Pride…"

She whispered, and gave him a soft kiss on the head

"See you later"

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A scene that was supposed to be in this chapter might get moved to next chapter…or maybe integrated into another part.

And I've officially put Sylvie on a bus ;-; you'll be missed, Sylvie, come back someday!

Anyway, so that's why Lust was so ticked off, since it was basically:

-Jack asks Lust if he can ask her a question

-Lust thinks he's asking her to marry him

-Jack is really asking her if she can be a bridesmaid at his fiancé (Isabelle)'s wedding.

-Lust gets annoyed but can't bring herself to kill him

-They fall out and lust doesn't go back to town

-Jack assumes she's gone back to the mental asylum

-Jack meets the real Luna and etc…

Hopefully I hinted at it enough to get the message through.

And hurray! We have finally seen an appearance from Luna, rather than Lust being mistaken for Luna, but she's completely off her head so we can't really determine what she was really like ^^;

…I have no idea why I push Pride's dislike for horses so bad to the extent he won't play chess with knights included…I think…besides Miles dying by one, it might have something to do with the animal that represents pride as a sin is a horse, but I mentioned that back in chapter 10/11

I hope to have the next chapter posted faster ^.^


	24. An Absurd Abundance of Avarice

A/N: Hi everyone, managed to write this chapter quickly enough…though I probably should've been writing up my coursework…well I'm sure I'll be able to get it finished on time…but enough about school, half term's almost over and I need to make the most of it. ^.^

Ok so, as I'm sure everyone is aware, the fluff bunnies have fallen off the cliff in their fluff train, so things are only going to get worse for our pure little Pride from now on…you have been warned…I've been writing fluff for so long I probably can't write bad things anymore… =S

Now, next chapter is one I've been planning for a LONG TIME, like, since July last year, and I for one cannot WAIT to write it, but it'll probably take a while for me to finish it cos of school and the fact that I want it to be perfect…well not perfect but…you know what I mean. But since I was so excited for next chapter…I'm not sure if this chapter's up to scratch… well, as always, reviews are appreciated fully ^_^

So, about this chapter, well the title will give you enough of a hint of what it's about. This one's much shorter than that far-too long last chapter (I had no idea I'd wrote 6500 words I swear! D:), so hopefully this won't be such a trek to read through.

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-Fan:

Darn TV tropes for making me say 'put on a bus', it's true what they say, that it'll ruin your life. I feel really bad that I took away Pride's only human friend, specially since you're right, he probably never had many over the course of his life. I enjoyed writing the scene with the painter, since I really got to highlight that Pride, naïve as he is, still doesn't respect humans all that much, and only is nice to Sylvie and her family because 1- they're important, and 2- she's his friend. His bluntness was cute to write too, since his prose kinda dropped to below normal person speak (forget "I need to go now, it was nice to meet you, I hope to see you again", when Pride wants to talk down to you, he acts stupider, all you get is "Must be going. _Buh Bye_") XD.

Congrats on guessing right ^_^ Oh, and thank goodness you got what Jack was implying, I didn't want him going all exposition-y on it, since he thought he was talking to Lust who knew all of it already, since she was there.

Yes, we are sorta going into a new arc per say, which is going to be commemorated with two things happening that also occurred in the last 'arc', no prizes for what they are XD *is subtle as a brick*

Aww, thank you, I'm so paranoid of making a 'mary-sue' or bad OC that I'm scared of making them, that was why I was so reluctant to show Luna for so long, and why I killed off Miles so early (not cos he needed to reach Pride really quickly, no, not at all…). I'm happy people like my OCs, especially with all the precautions I take when making them.

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Arakawa is still in possession of FullMetal Alchemist, even if THE Fullmetal alchemist has only been mentioned…three times in the whole fic.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Twenty-Four: An Absurd Abundance of Avarice**

**October 3rd 1695**

_May 27th 1695_

_Dear Pride, _

_How long it has been since I seen you last, and how long it has been since I first intended to write to you. Life as a married princess is far from simple, but, oh the wedding was just grand, Antoine is a fine Aerugan prince, and the knowledge that Father will be pleased with our uniting of countries, after all these years of planning…it makes me happy that I can do something worthwhile, even if I wasn't born the prince Father wanted…then again, the Aerugan king and queen's daughter is only six years old, so who would I marry if I was actually born male? I am sure Antoine will not approve of my sense of humour._

_How are you faring? I must ask, I hope you are well, and what of Lust? And your Father? I know they will be raising you to be a fine homunculus. Before I forget, happy one-hundred-and-fifth birthday! I pray that Winifred remembered to provide you with the melon we sent to you. And before you think my memory is waning, I'm still calculating what Amestrian thing you're going to be tasting for when I get back, I can't wait until I find something I know you will like, just you wait, Pride._

_I will write to you as soon as I can._

_Take care,_

_Princess Sylvie Rosaline Abigail Gwendolyn Euphemia Amestris, _

_Daughter of the sixth King of the nation of Amestris_

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_**December 26th 1695**_

_December 26th 1695_

_Dear Sylvie Rosal…why so many names?…I only have one…,_

_Your letter did not arrive for 'a while', wonder why… Mister Antoine sounds nice, are you bringing him back to Amestris with you? Why would the king want you to be a boy? I do not understand humans at all sometimes…but Father says I shouldn't try to, so I won't. _

_Lust is helping me write this letter, she knows how to spell words better than me. Happy birthday to you as well, you are…Twenty-one now, right? _

_We did not get a melon for 'a while' either, it didn't taste that nice, Lust said it went rotten, it made my stomach hurt… but that's ok, Father made me better with his alchemy._

_I'm looking forward for whatever actually good Amestrian food you find. _

_See you; Lust and Father say 'see you' as well_

_From Pride_

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**April 4th 1696**

_March 2nd 1696_

_Dear Pride, the name thing is just for show, royals like having lots of names, you should hear Antoine's…not as many as I have but still, he's been thinking of adding another five just for fun once he's King,, he's joking of course…as least…I hope so…_

_Oh, please do not worry yourself about royal affairs, it confuses me sometimes, I don't want you getting confused too…_

_I'm sorry the melon gave you stomach ache…someone might be getting a good talking to about that…_

_Guess what, Pride, the painting I posed for has finally arrived in Aerugo, looks great if I do say so myself, but that painter had one of his ' ideas' again, and he drew you in it, can you believe it? But he went a bit mad I fear, since he drew this great shadow over some of your body that stretched over onto the wall too…I'm sure it was an accident. You were hiding under the banner, near to the corner of the wall, looking ever so adorable, he even had you holding your flask. You're looking right at the…painter(?) as well, sometimes it seems like your eyes follow people around the room, like you're looking at us wherever we are, it's really amazing, just like the real you! Maybe we'll bring it back with us. I've told Antoine he can meet you someday when we come back._

_Happy one-hundred-and-sixth birthday before I forget._

_Princess Sylvie Rosaline Abigail Gwendolyn Euphemia Amestris, _

_Daughter of the sixth King of the nation of Amestris_

"What do you want me to do with this letter, Father?"

"Pride must not become too attached to these humans; we have humoured the princess for far too long, dispose of it, act as if the letter had never arrived" Lust looked over at Pride, sleeping soundly on the floor, coiled up around his flask, mind filled with pleasant dreams, a wide sleepy smile on his face. She turned to face Father, and nodded with a bow.

"As you wish, Father."

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**May 8th 1708**

_April 1697_

_Dear Pride,_

_How are you? I don't mind if you didn't reply, but I hope my letters are actually reaching you, I don't…_

…

_January 1st 1700_

_Happy New Year Pride, _

_A new century is upon us, or so Antoine says, he's a right superstitious one, thinks it's good luck and wants us to celebrate with…_

…

_29th February1708_

_Pride…_

_News has reached me that Father died; I wonder if Mother is faring well, I must return for my coronation, you may not know, but, officially, I am the queen now, but I know not if I will be able to visit you during my time back in Amestris,, so long it has been…I wonder if I can still find your home, I hope this letter will reach you instead…perhaps…on the day of my coronation…you might visit the castle, and attend? I know I am asking such a selfish thing…but if you are allowed, I would appreciate your being there, in this time…you are fortunate to have not experienced such a thing…neither had I…and yet, I can understand how precious life is now, and I think that perhaps Antoine is right, we should consider having children, I am not getting any younger, I'll be thirty-four soon… and with Father gone…I can finally understand that…but, what if I have a girl, it will be more beneficial to give birth to a male heir…I know not what to do…Pride…I…I'm scared…I'm so terrified of what the future holds…_

_Maybe…one day, when I can return indefinitely, perhaps I shall bring a child of my own, to meet you…_

_I cannot continue this letter for much longer, I must away; Father's funeral…and my coronation are on the 15th of March…they're waiting for me to return…I won't even be able to see him when I get there…_

_Look after yourself, but do not feel obliged to reply, I should not force my issues onto you._

_Queen Sylvie Rosaline Abigail Gwendolyn Euphemia Amestris, _

_Seventh Queen of Amestris, princess of Aerugo._

Lust scoffed as she tore the letters to pieces, what a persistent human Sylvie was being, the impudent little princ…_Queen_, trying to corrupt Pride with this talk of death and despair, how dare she try to drag Pride into such things. He needn't know, it was better he didn't know about them.

"Any letters from Sylvie, Lust?" But it seemed Pride could be persistent too. His grip tightened on her dress, after fifteen years of waiting for the Prin-_Queen_ to return, his patience had not remained unscathed, he would never show it, but the sense of longing in his voice didn't make it seem like he was taking it well.

"Nope, not a one, I'm sure she's just busy, Pride, you know how these Queens are." Pride nodded glumly, half-expecting such a reply, as if assuming he wasn't going to get a letter would somehow make one appear. He stopped, reassessing the sentence, before blinking a few times in confusion.

"_Queen_? Sylvie is a princess."

"Not anymore…um…Miss Winifred told me that she's a queen now, and queens are far busier than princesses."

"Queen…" Pride considered it, nodded to himself, and bounded down the stairs to the wooden board on the floor near to Father's table, picking up something before running back, quite out of breath, Lust rubbed at his back, wary of his flask sitting inside his hood. Pride held up what he was holding, it was a chess piece- the white— "Like this?" –Queen…

"Yes, she's a queen now. Well, now that I'm back, do you want to play chess? I promise I've gotten better at it" Lust smiled at him, and he smiled weakly back, he was forcing it, she was far more acquainted with faking emotions than he was.

"I'd like that, Lust."

Whatever Father had been planning to distract him, Lust just hoped he'd hurry up with it.

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**June 10th 1712**

"Ah! Pride, not so close! Who knows what'll happen to you if…" Lust pulled him away from the smoke and sparks of Father's transmutation, Father didn't want to be disturbed while he was working, he certainly wouldn't appreciate Pride interrupting, especially since this was all for _his_ benefit- at least, that's what Father had said it was. It was better to change to subject slightly, to something more positive about this no doubt important event. She'd never seen a homunculus being made, how could she? She was the youngest, but now, she wouldn't be the youngest anymore. It was strange, she thought, that as she held onto Pride's hand, the thought of being older than the others, being the second homunculus of what would one day be seven, it made her feel rather…_Proud_ too.

Must've rubbed off on me…

"Anyway, aren't you excited Pride? We're going to have a new brother or sister!" Pride nodded, his purple eyes still staring forward intently, unblinking, fully focused, waiting for something- anything- to emerge from the smoke.

Eventually, something did emerge, the cloud of grey seeming to part as he walked through it. Pride's smile widened, and he ran forward, wrapping his arms around his waist.

"Father! Is he done? Have you made a sibling for us?" He stood, waiting patiently for Father to return the hug, Lust knew he wouldn't, his hands were covered in the new homunculus' blood. The blood faded with a few more alchemic sparks, Pride's hair stood on end for a moment, flopping back down as Father finally did return the embrace.

"Yes, you have a younger brother now, Pride; I will introduce him to you in a moment. But, before that, you are aware that Lust can extend her fingernails?" Pride nodded "Well, your brother can do something similar, he can control the amount of carbon in his skin, which controls how hard the skin can be" He shot Lust a warning glare, and Lust looked rather offended, what sort of inappropriate joke did he think she would make during such an important time, and with _Pride _in the same room nonetheless? "From something weak, like charcoal, to something like diamond, which is very strong. But enough of that, your sibling will be waking soon, you won't want to miss that, will you?"

"Of course not, Father" Pride whispered as he reached for Father's hand, but it wasn't there, he lowered his arm, and was silent after that, watching as his new sibling groaned and dragged itself closer. Pride knew the situation had a hint of familiarity about it, and wondered if Lust had been born in a similar way, he hardly remembered what she had been like back then, or what _he_ had been like for that matter…

He was tall, taller than Lust he would guess, with black hair like he and Lust had, but it was shorter, and stuck up all over. Like Lust, he wore black, something that didn't have sleeves covering his chest and stomach, and shiny black things covering up his legs, with black things covering his feet, they reminded him of what Mister Jack wore on his feet all those years ago. He had red dots too, like Lust did, three of them at least, one on his back, and two on his stomach.

"Greed." The older looking homunculus raised his head; Pride didn't know how he knew his name already, but didn't think about it.

"Who…what-?"

"I have just created you, your name is Greed" _Oh_, Pride thought "You will call me Father; I hope that you appreciate my creating you, and will be loyal to me as proof of such." Greed nodded slowly, grinning. Father stepped back to let him stand up "Now, you are the third homunculus I have created, there will be a total of seven one day." He motioned towards him "This is Pride, your brother, and the first homunculus." he gave Pride a little push at that.

Pride smiled up at his younger brother, stretching out his hand "It's nice to meet you, Greed; I hope that we can hel-" a small yelp ripped itself from his throat as Greed gripped his hand, his left arm black now, nails sharp, digging into his skin, he was stronger than he realized, his bit into his lip to stop any more noises escaping him. He heard a quiet _crack _from inside his hand, and his arm tried to pull away by itself.

"Nice to meet you too, Big Bro…" Greed seemed to realize what he was doing, and let go, he could see now, that's where Greed's mark was, same as Lust's…just in a different…

"oh, sorry 'bout that." Pride shrugged it off, letting the cold glass of his flask soothe it.

"It's fine, Greed, you don't know your own strength yet I'm sure…" Greed tilted his head at him, before moving on to introduce himself to Lust instead. He sighed, but forced a smile, it didn't matter if everything hadn't gone exactly as he planned, Father needed to make more homunculi, and with him as the eldest…he would need to make sure they all helped Father in his plans. Yes, with Lust and Father's and his help…

_Greed would turn out just fine_

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**November 5th 1712**

"Why is Father punishing you, Greed?" Pride leaned forward, his legs kicking over the edge of the table. Pride didn't understand, only five months old and Greed was already getting into trouble with Father, he had no idea how or why, Father was much too busy to be disturbed by his senseless queries, and Lust was out. Greed folded his arms, leaning back against the table.

"It's complicated, Pride, it'd take too long to explain it all." Pride's legs froze, and his curious smile sagged, setting in a thin line, his jaw made a slight protest, frowning in anger was _not_ something it was used to.

"I have all the time in the world, Greed, and since Father has forbade you from leaving, it seems you do as well. I am certain Father has a very just reason for rep…repri…_reprimanding_ you, and I want to know what you did to force him to act this way."

"Fine." Greed sat up, and lifting himself onto the table, resting his feet on the stool instead, as if he was not _only_ _five_ _months_ _old_. "Well, you know how _Pops _sends me and Lust upstairs to snoop 'round?" Pride nodded, he was well aware, he wasn't allowed upstairs anymore, not since that time he got sick, Lust always brought him gifts though, like red coloured apples and small cakes with round red fruits that looked like Philosopher's stones on top, they had something called stones inside them too, not Philosopher's stones, and not the stones on the floor either, something completely different that also happened to be called 'stones', humans confused him so much sometimes. "Well, since we're supposed become part of the 'society', if you can really call it that, well, I thought that if people got too curious I was 'sposed to kill them," Greed adjusted the things he'd bought from upstairs that he wore over his eyes and made everything darker "but apparently Father and Lust thought that I was being too conspicuous, but I mean, how am I 'sposed get close to humans without them becoming suspicious? With Lust, a guy takes one look at her and he's gone, she could say anything and he'd believe it- no questions asked. But me? _No_, gotta try 'n' be friends with them, and then they start asking questions and…Pride, are you even listening?"

Pride pulled his hood round to his front, his eyes widening when he found it empty, he jumped off the table with a thud, looking around it, on top of it, even demanding Greed stand up and move out of his way.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Greed, where's my flask gone?" His fingers twitched, grasping at the air, his flask was somewhere else, it wasn't right, not to be holding it, not knowing exactly where it was…what if he never saw it again? He trembled at the thought, but he didn't stop, he couldn't, he needed it, _right_ _now_. Pride could feel the colour draining from his face "Greed…help me find it…_now_. If don't find it I…"

"Whoa whoa whoa, calm down Big Bro, just think where you left it." His shivering was escalating into spasms, and his shaky breath into wheezing, if he kept going he was gonna faint, Greed didn't know what to do, holding onto his thin shuddering shoulders, hoping to steady him "Oh um…think…_think_…y-you were dr-drawing, weren't you? Near father's chair, remember, did you leave it there?" Greed felt the need to point him in the correct direction, and Pride followed his finger almost exactly, falling over from his legs shaking too much, and crawling the rest of the way, stopping a few times to catch his breath or wait out a dizzy spell.

Greed sighed in relief; Pride was so _odd_, jumping from being a sensible older brother and a naïve and downright _immature_ _child_ on a whim whenever he felt like it, he wondered if Lust even considered him an older sibling after putting up with it for so long, regardless of all that '_Big Brother'_ crap she insisted on spouting at every waking moment- Greed was smart enough to know that was just a put up to keep Father happy, and that it had degenerated into nothing more than a nick-name for Pride. Carrying about that flask like he would _die_ if he it wasn't constantly by his side didn't help matters either.

A surprised, shrill little squeak reached his ears, and the noisy clacking of sandals came ever closer.

"Greed! There's…there's…" Pride was running towards him, still pale as ever, flask at arm's length, a stark contrast to his never letting it more than a few inch away from his body. "What is this? ! Tell me, Greed!"

Greed couldn't help but chuckle, pulling his glasses down to the bridge of his nose for a closer look.

It was a mouse, raking its tiny claws over the inside of Pride's flask, no doubt it had climbed inside hoping for a safe place to rest. No such luck with Pride as its owner.

"That… would be a mouse, Pride. It must've climbed through the spout with no cork and gone to sleep…and now you've woken it up." Its beady red eyes stared up at them, studying them. "It's a strange one though, most mice have black eyes and brown fur, this one has red eyes and white fur." Pride pressed his nose into the glass, going cross eyed as he tried to look the peculiar new resident over.

"Will it come out?"

"Probably, just hold out your hand and let it go when it climbs out. Then again…animals aren't too fond of people like us." Pride ignored the last part, wandering off and sitting down.

Pride watched it for a little longer, as it scratched and scratched and scratched, desperate to get out, trying to climb out by itself but just sliding back to the bottom. He laid the cork-less spout in his palm.

"It's ok, you can come out now, my flask is not for '_mouses'_, I need it more, sorry." The mouse took a cautious step closer, and poked its nose out the spout, sniffing at the air. Its hands and feet weren't like his, smaller and curlier, with sharp things he couldn't see at the ends, they poked at his skin as it sat on his hand.

"Hello, Little Mouse." It didn't answer him, still sniffing around. After a few moments it looked up, the long hairs near its nose twitching. It squeaked at him, its fur bristling, and latched onto the front of his finger, pinching the skin between its teeth. "Ow! Little Mouse, please stop! That hurts!" Pride didn't know what to do, he'd just helped it, he didn't want to hurt it, even if it was hurting him. The next time he looked it was gone, already running away from him; it must've hopped off his hand.

Pride sat quietly to himself, wondering why it didn't like him, staring at the small dents in his finger where its teeth had been. He didn't want to see it anymore, popping the finger in his mouth, pressing it into his tongue, hoping to ease the stinging a little. His eyes were prickling, but he wasn't going to cry, it wasn't worth crying over, he'd been nice to it, and that was all that mattered. A small sigh escaped him, and he lay down, curling up in the only sleeping position he felt comfortable in, it didn't feel right laying any other way. Sleeping would make him feel better, he could go to sleep and forget all about it…

"Pride, I'm back!"

His plans were disposed of without a thought, sitting back up and looking around for the source of the voice.

"Welcome back, Lust. Did you have a nice time upstairs?" He was standing by now, he could hear her running, strange for Lust, he thought.

"Yes," She gave him a quick hug and a kiss as her way of saying hello, she always hated that she had to leave him every day. "but I'm going back, really soon!" Pride frowned a bit, she usually only went out once, so she spend the rest of the day with him. "But I need to hurry; I've got amazing news for you! You know how Greed needs to stay here?" She seemed a bit _too happy _that their younger sibling was misbehaving "Well, I talked to Father, and he says that since Greed's here…that means you can come out with me! I mean it's miserable out, but you still want to visit town with me again…or not…Big Brother…?" Pride had been beaming through the whole sentence; it'd been so long since he'd been outside. The smile was wiped off his face as he remembered the whole reason he hadn't been allowed upstairs for so long.

"What if I get sick again?" Lust said there were lots of things that could make him different types of sick, and Father had made him '_immune'_ to them, but what if there were more types now?

"It's only November Pride; you can only get sick in December and January and February. Please don't worry, Big Brother, I'll look after you." His smile returned "Good, now we need to hurry, it's going to rain soon" Pride raised an eyebrow

"What's rai-?"

"I'll tell you all about it on the way there. Now…I'm forgetting something I know it." She looked him up and down "That's it!" Lust knelt down, grinning from ear to ear "Pride…do you know how I wear different clothes when I'm in town?" Pride nodded "Well, I've…I've got you some new clothes, I bought them ages ago, just hoping that Father'd let you go upstairs again one day. Isn't it wonderful?" He nodded again, much more enthusiastic, "come on, we'd best get you ready, and change you into your new clothes." New clothes, _new_ _clothes_, he had different clothes to wear, even if the ones he wore were perfect the way they were, Father had given her permission to get them, he must have wanted him to be able to choose, _Father _had given him the choice, and now he was letting him go outside again. As Pride held onto Lust's hand, and she led him away to her room, he couldn't stop smiling.

Lust couldn't stop smiling either; she'd been given a chance to make it up to Pride, she'd been so stupid and immature back then, she hadn't told him about the world like she was supposed to and he'd got so ill. Father had punished her for it, but there was no reason Pride should have been forbidden from going outside, being cooped up here for so long, it was just like being trapped in that flask of his. But she could change all that now, they'd go to town for a few hours, return with Pride perfectly _fine, _and continue on from there. She'd plan everything to the last detail.

Her second chance would not go to waste.

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Pride and Lust are going to return to Central…again! Yay?

I like humourously long and intricate names of royals, the prince of Aerugo only has three middle names as opposed to Sylvie's four, do you guy's think so many names is ok? I'm also assuming that the royals' surnames are the name of the country, since in the FMA wii game the prince of Aerugo's name in 1914 is Claudio Rico Aerugo.

I hope my characterization of Greed is ok, truth be told, I don't really like him as a homunculus, since I don't really like anti-heroes in general, so I don't know if he's in character here or not…well he is only young here…hey, didn't I use this excuse for Lust like…17 chapters ago? XD

Poor Pride got bit by a mouse…good thing it didn't make him bleed or might've got lock jaw…anyway, I'm using the thing that animals don't like Hohenheim (or Father's evil plan as it is unfolding) since he has lots of souls inside him, so I'd assume that all animals wouldn't like the homunculi either for the same reason.

By the way, I've been wondering if I should post my character designs of my OC's onto my deviantART, since I know you guys already have ideas of what they look like already. Let me know, but there's already some old stuff on my DeviantART, like baby Pride's design and an eye catch I made. I'm not the best drawer though, so you've been warned for that too ^.^ I'm also considering posting my miscellaneous story notes and theories there as well, such as how I made the origin of Pride's container, or how I made each of the OCs (snippet: up to chapter 17, Sylvie didn't even exist, and when I started writing chapter 22, Jack was going to get killed off, but I had a change of heart at the last minute).

Reviews always welcome~


	25. Known as Monsters

A/n, you guys have no idea how difficult this was to write, I don't even really like it as it is, but it's already been a month since I last updated. …I need to go to bed '-' Goodnight everyone... *yawn*

Previous reviews:

Moofy-Fan:

Thanks about Greed being in character, I want to involve him more, but there's not a lot of room in my chapter plan, he's going to get a few scenes though, so don't worry. Pride's adorable, even when getting attacked by a mouse and freaking out 3 But I fear that all the fluff will be coming to a complete stop soon… /3

Yeah, Sylvie strikes me as one who won't give up on someone, and'll just find excuses for why they're too busy to answer. Oh, wait til you hear the prince of Aerugo's name, it's not as wacky as Sylvie's…I think, but we'll see ^.^

Aw, thanks for checking out my deviantART account, I don't think I'm that good, but I want to eventually post some new stuff. I'm sure your art is awesome considering you're doing an art major, shame you don't have a scanner though.

Greed isn't that relevant at the moment, but this chapter almost where everything goes down hill, now you've been warned.

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This chapter…is where everything goes to hell, you've been warned…I've been planning this chapter for a *long time* as I mentioned last chapter, but I'm not that pleased with how it all turned out, but now that I've written it I can finally start working on later chapters, hopefully they'll get written quicker than this one…hopefully…

Arakawa own…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Known as Monsters**

"N-no, you can keep those on, Big Brother!" Pride stopped, leaving the cloth that lay under his robe hanging below his hip on one side, Lust once suggested that if he had a mark like she and Greed did, it should be there, apparently it was better if people didn't see it, but he _didn't_ have one, so it didn't matter. Pride tugged the side back up, waiting patiently for Lust to dig out his new clothes. He caught a glimpse of himself in Lust's mirror, and blushed a little, covering himself up with his hands and looking away, he didn't want to see himself like this, and no one else must see any of him either, especially not his _belly-button._

"Here we are. Do you like them, Pride? This is a _shirt, _a pair of _shorts, _a pair of _socks_ too, I have some shoes for you as well but we'll get you dressed first." Lust knelt in front of him; slipping his hands through the grey thing she called a shirt, tying the edges together at the front with three black pieces of thread. His arms were uncovered, and he shivered, but the relief that came with realizing the shirt fell below his waist distracted him. She paused, undoing them, muttering something about bows not looking right in a line. The black haired boy blinked, his lips pursed in his usual confusion, there was still so much he didn't understand, but now that he was going upstairs with Lust again, he hoped that he would learn more about the world. "So, what were you doing while I wasn't in, Pride?" Lust asked as she fumbled with the string, crossing the pieces over each other instead, and making 'X' shapes to hold his shirt together. Pride glanced over at his flask as he thought back

"I saw a mouse, it didn't talk though…and…" Pride wanted to push the memory far from his mind, to forget about it, but he knew he shouldn't keep secrets from Lust- what example would he be setting if he did that? "And it wasn't very nice to me." She stopped, sensing his unease

"What do you mean by that?"

"It…it scratched at my hand with its teeth, it didn't like me and ran away."

"It…bit you? And did you bl-" Lust covered her mouth "I mean, did it break your skin? Let me see." He mumbled a 'no' as she pulled his hand close, pressing different parts with her finger, she sighed "Thank goodness, if it had you'd need to go to Father right away, it could have made you ill." Pride watched her finish tying his shirt up. "Oh, and animals can't talk like us, Big Brother, they talk to each other with different noises we can't understand." He stepped into his shorts, they were a darker grey, falling over his knees, Lust folded the ends up over them, and kept it tight around his waist with a similar piece of thick string. "What were you doing holding a mouse anyway?"

"I left my flask on the floor, and Greed said the mouse fell asleep inside. It couldn't get out, so I wanted to help it…but…" Lust nodded in understanding, picking him up and placing him on the edge of her bed, pulling the long white things she called socks over his feet, they were quickly hidden beneath his shiny black 'shoes'. "There we go, I think that's everything. Do you want to see what you look like now?" Pride pushed himself off the bed without answering, wandering over to the table, towards the fluffy white pile that sat on top of it. His hand wavered over his 'heart' for a moment, those were the clothes he'd always wore, that he'd worn ever since Father had given him this container. Holding it close to him, he could remember how warm it used to make him, how he knew he was always safe and secure, and now he was just…leaving it behind, it made him feel…

It was a few seconds until he noticed he'd dropped it, the deep violet sash hanging off one of his fingers, following soon after.

"I can't forget…I won't." The homunculus nodded as he decided on what to do, putting his robe back on the table, and scooping up his sash, walking back to Lust. She could sense his sadness he was sure, staring down at the purple fabric. Pride held it out for her

"…not forget, Lust. Here." He pushed it into her hands before she could decline

"You're…giving this to me? But why?"

"I don't want to forget about my old clothes, so if you wear this I won't be able to." Lust nodded, tying it around the waist of her human clothes, threading one edge through the other and letting the loose end dangle from her side. She smiled as she adjusted it in the mirror.

"I don't want to forget either then, and since I can't wear_ this_ with your sash" Lust motioned to the dark blue ribbon around her wrist "don't ask why, humans are picky like that." She added as a whispered afterthought in his ear. "You can have it instead, here." It tied a little too tight around his neck, and he made a note to himself to loosen it a little later. "Is that everything, Pride? We really ought to be going." A simple smile was the only answer required, and the two homunculi set off without a word

0 * 0 * 0

He'd been wondering about it for a while now. Ever since Greed had first mentioned the word that morning it'd been scratching away at the back of his mind, he knew enough of what he had been saying to understand _why_ his younger sibling was being punished, but without knowing the meanings of _that _word, he doubted he would be able to tell Greed what he had been doing wrong and correct him on it, and what good would that do?

The sky was dark, a tiny yellow streak shining through the dull, gloomy looking clouds, no doubt _the Sun, _trying to blind him again, but he wasn't scared, not even a little bit, no matter how much he was holding onto Lust's hand.

Despite Lust's warning of 'rain', apparently small drops of water that fell from the sky like snow but faster, it seemed humans didn't like rain much either, or the prospect of rain at least, given their constant looking upwards and less than cheerful expressions. Lust pulled him gently to the stall at her left, running her spare hand through a pile of clothes that she could 'buy' using some method he was not familiar with.

"Hm…do you think we should buy this for Greed?" she held up some sort of short coat with no sleeves "You know how he loves having all those weird clothes." The older homunculus shook his head in a firm _no,_ had Lust forgotten the only reason he had been allowed outside?

"Greed is being punished. We shouldn't bring him a present, he might misbehave even more if he thinks he'll get presents for it." Lust dropped the coat down in an instant, nervously patting it down and stepping away from it.

"O-Oh, of course. How foolish of me to even consider such a thing." She bowed her head a little, no doubt hiding her shame at her mistake. Pride frowned, holding his flask tight to his chest, without a hood to store it he didn't dare let it leave his hands. He shook her arm, waiting for her to look at him.

"It's okay, Lus-_Solaris_" 'Luna' was far too outdated now it seemed, she had made a new name for herself, his name had stayed at 'Selim' for simplicity's sake, and he'd never used it much before anyway. He was well aware of his new instructions for answering human queries. "You just forgot, that's all, but-" Pride could feel his own query clawing away at his head again, and his attempts to push it away were failing. A few seconds of considering made him think it better to give in, after all, Lust had promised that she'd tell him all about the world, so there was no reason he should keep it to himself. He pulled at her sleeve again "Hm? What's wrong? Pri-I mean, _Selim?_"

"Well…" He looked around to see if anyone was listening. "When I was with Greed he said why he was being punished, but there was something I didn't understand, a word I mean." She rubbed his shoulder

"There's no reason to be embarrassed, that's what I'm here for. So, what word was it?"

"He said that he thought that if the humans asked too many questions he was supposed to 'kill' them, but that wasn't right. But…I don't know what that word means, what wasn't he supposed to do?" Lust's encouraging smile dissolved within seconds, she stepped back, staring at him, mouth falling agape

"D-did you say…_kill_?" He didn't see the problem, and nodded

"Greed told me, I've never heard of it before."

Lust realized at that moment that, thanks to Greed, all her plans had been torn to shreds, and she considered tearing _him _to shreds in her own way of saying thank you for ruining Pride's innocence by exploiting his curiosity.

"K-kill…it means…. to make something die, basically." She flinched before he could even digest the words; she just _knew _what was coming next…

"_die? _What does that mean?" _there we go…_

"um…dying is…" Lust was trying to lie even now, to try and repair the bloody wide scar in Pride's purity. "It's when someone goes far away, and doesn't come back for a very very long time; they usually don't come back at all" Pride covered his mouth to hide a gasp, inching backwards, tears already forming in his eyes.

"That means…" he bit into his lip, looking away from the crowd he knew he'd be attracting "Miss Sylvie must have died too… That's why she's never coming back, isn't it?"

"No, death doesn't work like that." Lust cursed herself at describing it as 'going away' while Sylvie was in Aerugo, though she could have been dead and they wouldn't have told him either way, it was better to leave him hopeful "What I mean is, people who die can never come back, but people who go away aren't necessarily dead, Sylvie _will _come back one day, I'm sure of it. I'm not explaining this well enough" She paused to sort out what she was going to say "Ok, ok. So, people only die when their bodies don't work properly and can't keep them alive anymore, and then they stop existing." She was dreading how he was going to react to _this._

Pride did not disappoint, staying silent for several minutes, looking around at the humans that were passing him by, no doubt figuring out that, one day, they would all 'die'. It struck him later than she anticipated, and he gasped again.

"Then…Lust, will…will Father die too someday?" Lust had already begun her comforting words about his own mortality before she realized that Pride's selflessness ran far deeper than she ever thought. Her prepared words would need to be altered… She knelt down and pulled him into a hug.

"Oh Pride, I was only talking about _humans, _homunculi cannot die so easily, Father has his alchemy to help him, I doubt he'll ever die, especially after we make his plan come true. Please don't be scared of dying either, Greed and Father and I will protect you, and even if it doesn't feel like it, your Philosopher's stone is much stronger than you think. So don't worry, I'll look after you, I promise." Pride smiled, gratefully soaking up his sister's affections.

"Thank you, Lust."

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"I don't understand what you mean, please speak louder." Pride watched as the small human flinched at his words, he tilted his head to the side, blinking at him. The human recovered, readjusted his hat and held up the large pieces of paper again.

"Of course, Mister…"

"Pr-Selim." The human raised his eyebrow, but carried on.

"_Prezelleem_? Ok…well, this is a newspaper, there's a few in Central at the moment, but my father's is the very best I assure you, he tries ever so hard to get the latest news from around the country, and he does, I can't read mind you, but he does. He's the best writer in town, and his stories are always one-hundred percent the truth. Not like those other papers." Pride squinted at the words written on the paper, only the top was readable from so far away

_The Central Daily Gazette_

_Up to date news since 1698_

"Would you like one? It's only half a cen, but you can get a weekly subscription for only 2 cen per week, that's two papers for free, but we _are_ planning to have a paper on Sunday as well someday." Pride turned to Lust, he didn't have any Cenz, but Lust looked after all the money, so maybe she'd buy one for him.

"Can I have one, 'Solaris'_?_" Lust nodded, and within a few seconds handed him the newspaper, it was only two or three sheets, with no pictures, nothing like Father's books. Regardless, the older homunculus tucked his flask under his arm and started reading a column

_The royal court has confirmed the horrific tragedy that was said to have struck the Queen late last month, the Queen mother expressed her deepest sorrow at the event, and hopes the nation will have her daughter in their thoughts at such a time. There is currently serious doubt over the stability of the Queen's mental state, and fears are growing as to whether she will recover. Questions as to whether the grand Amestrian monarchy can continue if the Queen is unable to produce another heir during her reign are also rising. The King has reportedly stated that she will be in mourning for an indefinite amount of time, and promises to support her throughout her ordeal._

Pride didn't know who the newspaper was talking about, since Sylvie was only a Queen in Amestris, and she was in Aerugo at the moment, he wondered about who this other queen could be, but disregarded it, carefully folding the paper in half. Lust looked to the sky thoughtfully and sighed

"We should be leaving soon, Pride, if it starts raining the ink in your newspaper will end up running and it'll be ruined." His head sank at the realization that their 'outing' was already at its end "Well, I _could _go by myself and take the paper back with me, and then come back, does that sound better? We'll be able to spend more time outside, but I don't know if-." Lust suggested, it was against her better judgment she was sure, but Pride hadn't been outside in so long, he looked so happy; surely she could make an exception just this once like Father had.

Pride nodded in approval, telltale signs of delight shaping his features. Lust gently ran her hand over his hair, and left a brief goodbye kiss on his head.

"Alright, you just stay around here and I'll come back as soon as I can, ok?" She tucked the newspaper under her own arm, and started on her way back to Father.

"S-see you, Lust" The timid little sin turned as well, walking with quivering steps back to the stall where that smaller human was. Said human was currently organizing his father's newspapers again, far too focused to notice him. Pride knelt down in front of his stall, resting his flask on it; parts of it were rotten, and flaking a bit, and the pieces stuck up and stabbed into his arms. Something bubbled up from his stomach, and he grimaced, squirming a little in hopes of attracting the human's attention. Such isolation felt strange, it was different to when he was at home, he was never truly alone since Father was always there, but this…there were so many humans, and not one cared anything for his being there, the feeling began to spread, up past his heart and pooling in his head. And it _hurt._ The seconds dragged on as if they were hours, the human kept on working in silence, his sense of longing continued to grow. Pride's reflection flickered solemnly in his flask, and he sighed, relenting.

"H-Hello again" The human looked up from his work

"Oh, hello there, Mister Prezelleem, did you want to subscribe to father's newspaper after all?" Pride shook his head, the boy's smile twitched, and his eyes narrowed "Then what do you want? Did _they_ send you? Because I…" His voice wavered, cheeks flushing. The homunculus didn't understand who 'they' were, but carried on.

"My name isn't…whatever you said, it's Selim. My sister is taking the newspaper home, so I need to stay here…That's ok…isn't it?" The human shot him another accusing glare, but then his expression softened.

"It's fine, but please don't mess up father's newspapers." Pride nodded again, smiling contently to himself, even if the human was only letting him sit nearby, the acknowledgement felt rather…nice.

It might have meant nothing in comparison to Lust and Father's and perhaps Greed's affections, but it was nice nonetheless.

But, homunculus he was, he was well aware that they were merely insects, and the knowledge that this human would one day die didn't bother him in the slightest.

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He didn't understand. He was used to not understanding _some_ things; Lust was usually always there to explain it for him. But she wasn't here now; he'd need to figure it out for himself. The human was shivering, eyes fixed on the much taller boy, staring intently as he watched him skim over the paper and scoff.

"Silly tart, should've known she'd even screw up getting preggers, can't do anything right, damn monarchy couldn't care less about us lot." He glanced down at the smaller human "and yet you, _Squirt,_ you and your old man keeps buttering them up, making them feel all good about themselves while we scrimp and scrape and…" the older looking boy shook his head and tore the paper to pieces, the small human cowered and stepped away, his movements smooth and rehearsed, as if he was used to such occurrences. Pride just watched with his usual curious eyes. The human turned to him "who's your friend _Squirt?_"

"M-My name's Selim, I'm…ten years old." The three boys behind him erupted with laughter, but he hadn't said anything that was in the least bit amusing. After a minute or two the laughter died down, and the first human wiped at his eye with a grin.

"Right little liar you are, but I ain't seen you around here before. Where d'you live?"

"I live with Father…and my sister, um…" he'd never been given a fake place to live "we live under the ground in a big room. This is my first time out in a while." They chuckled at that, focusing their attention fully on him.

"Bit o' a shut-in eh? Well, that's your new name now. So, little _Shut_-_In,_ you wanna explore a bit with us? You look like you could do with our _official _Central town tour. Free of course, not like _some people_"

"Well, I am supposed to be…" The smaller human looked at him briefly, still shuddering, but he gulped, and even smiled, miming a 'go on'. "Alright. I'll come with you" They looked surprised, and laughed it off as usual.

"Well, _little Shut-in, _let's get going then." He followed them without a word, flask in hand, reasoning that they wouldn't be gone for _too_ long; they'd be back before Lust was, surely.

The paper-boy watched them go; wiping away his tears; if they had Selim to bother then they'd leave him alone, at least for a little while. He picked up the shreds of what remained of one of father's newspapers, he hoped, he hoped ever so dearly, that someone would pay for the subscription now, it could explain why his money would be out of balance. It was the same every day, they would never truly let him be, but with him occupying their time…maybe it wouldn't happen tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that. It was selfish, and cruel and deceitful, the guilt clawed at his insides, until he couldn't focus on anything else.

With a nervous gulp, the little human stumbled away from his stall, and hurried after that strange boy that he might one day call a friend.

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The clouds looked darker than ever, Pride knew it was going to rain soon, he quickened his pace, Lust would probably be back soon, but he knew he couldn't just leave them without saying goodbye. He looked closely at his surroundings, trying to figure out where they wanted him to meet them.

They'd wanted something from him, a gift, and if he found them something they liked from the market and brought it to them without getting caught they'd tell him their names, and be friends with him, all of them had needed to do it at some time or another. But he couldn't, his clothes would not allow such a thing, how was he supposed to hold something they liked _and _his flask at the same time? It was simple, he couldn't, and he would just have to explain to them that he would join their little community once he wore something that allowed him to store his flask elsewhere. They might have been humans, but they must be able to understand the simple reasoning of it all.

He recognized the lamp that hung outside one of the streets and turned. Pride could see them now, the alley ended in a wall for some reason, and they were standing there, laughing to themselves.

"Welcome back _Shut_-_In_" The tallest grinned at him, holding out his hand. Pride smiled back, and uneasily held the flask under his arm, shaking the boy's hand, that was what humans did when they met each other; he wondered why they hadn't done that sooner. The human scowled and pulled his hand away. "I don't want to shake your hand you idiot! I want you to- I mean _we_ would like to see what you have brought us from the market." He looked him up and down for any sign of the new object.

"I…I didn't get anything." The boys tensed, staring at him now "I had nowhere to put my flask, so can I bring one next time? I might be wearing new clothes then." Something thick was trickling down his cheek "I've cut myself… It must've happened when I fell over on my way back, but that's ok." Pride smiled, his cheek flaring red as it healed. The humans huddled together, whispering to each other, looking at him from time to time. Their words only reached him in a disjointed mess.

_Did you just…I mean he… Maybe he's a… Or a demon…_

_Nah…too thick…_

_And he has the nerve to…_

_He's holding that…_

_Maybe we should…_

_That'll teach him…_

They stood in a line again, glaring at him

"Well, Shut-in, we've come to a decision." Pride still smiled, oblivious to their change in tone, to their posture and all the other things that would serve as a warning to all who saw it. "We've decided that since you haven't brought us a gift, we will have to confiscate something of yours until you do." Pride looked puzzled, he had nothing to give, his pockets were empty, and he couldn't give away Lust's ribbon. He looked aimlessly into his flask.

But he couldn't see his reflection in it.

He flexed his fingers around it, yet he couldn't feel the calming cold of the glass, they sank straight through. Reality crashed over him, and a shiver shot up his spine. Pride looked up, and there it was, his perfect, flawless flask, in the dirt-covered hands of a _human._

"What are you doing? Why have y-y-you…?" His pale, slender fingers grasped upwards, the tiny, almost painful spasms working their way down his arms, his breath coming in shuddering gasps.

"Are you deaf as well as stupid, you lousy runt?" Pride didn't know which one of them was speaking, only aware of the fact that he still wasn't holding his flask, why hadn't he got it back yet? ! He pushed himself onto his tiptoes, but he still wasn't tall enough, his container wouldn't stretch, why wasn't it working? ! "You'd think that being locked up with that senile old man of yours for so long you'd have cleaned your ears out once in a while." All was silent, to Pride at least; his whole body was shaking now, his teeth clenched in hopes of calming himself. But the humans were insulting Father, he who had founded to entire country, without him…

A low pulse started up in his head, Pride recognized it, it was the emotion he seldom felt, but this was understandable, and reasonable this time, he let it grow to a size he deemed suitable, feeding it with the echo of the human's words. His flask was still dangling over him, taunting him, no, not it; the _humans_ were using it to taunt him. Angry tears were burning down his face, and for a moment he lost himself, rushing forward, and slamming his weight into whatever he hit. He heard it yelp in surprise, and a round perfect sphere landed in his outstretched hands.

The cold calmed him down, and Pride nuzzled against his flask, promising to never let it go again.

A human snickered, and he opened his eyes. He tried to stand his ground, squeaking out a weak 'I don't appreciate taking things without people's permission', but nothing he would consider worthwhile. There was no point, he needed to go home, go home and forget about this, and maybe come back in fifty years or so, when all these humans were gone. Pride turned on his heels, padding uneasily away, flask close, pressed up against his chest, near his neck. He could still hear them laughing, but ignored it.

"So…you're not only a liar, shrimp, shut-in, idiot and a monster, you're a bloody hypocrite too!" Something smashed into his back, no…two things, with fingers… they felt like hands…

The human had pushed him.

Pride's feet didn't even touch the floor, he fell, slowly, eyes widening, unable to look away as he watched the ground rush up to meet him. He never saw it, but he heard it, and felt it, the high, clear sound ringing in his ears, its smooth surface beneath him, buckling under his weight, and shattering in one brief moment.

The truth didn't sink in straight away, it couldn't, Pride's mind wasn't willing to accept it. It never really did, the physical pain reaching him first, the strange sticky substance he could feel leaking out between his fingers, warming all his chest and neck and stomach, remnants of his flask tearing through his soft once human flesh (not that he knew of such things).

_Not parts of flask, flask isn't broken…flask is fine…_

A scream wanted to wrench itself from his throat, but no noise came, only the bubbling of what sounded like water and poured out his mouth. His hand tightened around something slippery and smooth that was stuck in his neck, and tugged at it. He gasped and flailed about at the sudden pain, letting go and flopping down, only forcing it deeper into his skin. He wanted to scream, he _needed _to scream, screaming would make it all better, Lust would hear him and everything would be fine…

His body wouldn't work anymore…and that meant he-

Pride shivered at the thought, his naïve mind denying it, he couldn't die, Lust said homunculi couldn't die…but only if she was there to protect him…

The four humans were staring at him again, he could imagine what they were saying about him, calling him a demon and a monster, whatever those words meant, they sounded like horrible things, things he wasn't. If anything, it was they, selfish and cruel and ungrateful humans they were, that were the demons.

"You…" the air flowed into his lungs from the hole in his neck, something in his throat twitching and pulling as he tried to speak "**humans**" Pride flinched, eyes darting around, trying to locate the other voice that had suddenly appeared. He couldn't see anyone. "You're **the ones **who- should **di**-" He retched, Philosopher's stones continuing to spill from him, staining the path and the dull boring stones that made it up. Little drops of water fell into his crimson puddles with quiet 'plops', it was raining. Pride might have smiled at the odd things the weather did, but not anymore. "not me…**I'm **no**thing **like** you**…" His voice wouldn't stop alternating between his real voice and another that he couldn't describe "I'm not **human like **you…"

Pride could feel that funny little thing from long ago throbbing inside his head, the one that had been waiting for something, it didn't know that it would be waiting forever… but it made him smile, and laugh, until he choked and coughed up so many of his Philosopher's stones he was sure he had no more left to give, the stone that made up his heart beating softly now, it no energy to keep him alive. The pulsing steadily increased, becoming stronger and more restless, as if urging him to continue, he couldn't stop smiling, glowering through his unfocused eyes at the boys in front of him, another one there now, the one from before, who sold newspapers… who'd sent him off with them. It was all his fault, he'd probably planned it from the beginning. Pride could see his mouth moving, he couldn't hear him, but he could guess what lies he was spouting about him, insulting him like the rest.

_Selim, don't move, we'll go and fetch you a doctor, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…Selim? A-Are you-?_

But what had he expected? He was only human. Pride just smiled dopily at him, it filled with a strange emotion that wasn't in any way sincere.

"And I...I'm-" Something snapped in his throat, but he ignored it, far too occupied by the task at hand and the incessant, desperate pounding in his ears. His pupils narrowed themselves to slits without him realizing, and his scarlet stained lips curled into a toothy, malice filled grin. "**…I'm** _**Proud **_**that I'm not.**" The funny little thing exploded again, flooding his psyche more violently than anything he'd ever felt before, even with his eyes open he couldn't see a thing, just quick flashes of black and bits of wall. It wasn't content in overwhelming his thoughts, flowing down the rest of him with as much force. His container wouldn't hold, if the glass hadn't already killed him he might have been worried about being torn to shreds by the sudden surge of energy ripping through him. His body quaked though the strain, and after it was over he couldn't move, feeling hollow and cold, his hands weakly cupped around the remaining cork from his flask, it red and bloated with his Philosopher's stones.

Then there was nothing but screams, his own, he supposed, he might've been in too much pain to feel anything, but was screaming nonetheless, just like he wanted. The finality of it all hit him, he was going to _die_, his body wouldn't work properly anymore, it was just going to stop, and he'd stop existing with it, he'd never see Lust or Father again. Pride quivered, fear of death making itself known, he didn't want to die, there was so much he'd never seen or done, or heard about, how could he help Father if he was dead? It wasn't right, he shouldn't- He felt his eyes welling up. Pride wondered, desperate and childish as it was, whether he could drink the Philosopher's stones again, whether they would keep him alive even if they would spill out again; just long enough until someone found him. Whatever shame he had in his body welled in his chest as he slowly lapped at a small puddle, his tears and the rain mixing with it. He spat it back out, he hadn't expected any better, it wasn't the same, it didn't even taste the same, and all his useless experiment had done was destroy any optimism and energy he had left. Pride's frail arms gave out, and he sank down in a sticky red heap, he hadn't even the strength to whimper as the shards of glass were forced further into him. Moving clouds of black framed his vision, and he just stared ahead, lungs burning, breathing little more than pauses between his quiet sobbing, laboured and forced and ever so shallow, feeling heavier than he ever had in his life. He couldn't feel his heart anymore; he knew he never would again.

_Father…Lust…_

Pride could picture them in his mind, they were smiling, at least…Lust was. Lust who had left him, hadn't protected him like she'd promised…

The broken form of his container just shook and wept, listening to the cries dying away as meaningless echoes, blending into the sounds of the rain pattering over his flayed, tattered skin, the pain dulling to a blunt, almost soothing ache. His mouth fell open in a half-formed sigh, vision blurring, eyes fluttering shut as the shadows of death enfolded him.

…

Pride could see from somewhere else now, somewhere above him, he could see his container lying on the ground, pools of Philosopher's stones around it. The humans from before were on the ground too, but they weren't moving, pieces of them were missing, what looked like the smallest one didn't have a head or neck anymore, and one of them was in two pieces. Pride frowned, Father would be so ashamed that he'd let himself die, he wouldn't be there when that happened, he wondered if Father would be sad, but he didn't want to make Father worry about it him like that, he had more important things to attend to surely, he didn't want to ruin everything even more than he already had.

Pride stared at his container wistfully, wanting to reach out somehow, and he willed himself to go through the motions, but only a dark, sharp-fingered hand that wasn't his moved closer instead, darting out of sight as soon as he noticed it. His container didn't stir, its shadow seeming longer than before, some of it climbing up the wall and arching out over it, shielding his weak, broken body from the rest of the world. The lamp from the wall was swaying in the wind; he watched it overbalance, and fall, and saw it smash over the cobbled floor with a muffled crash. The rain quickly went to work on the open flame, and with that the light faded away, and he was again lost in the comforting embrace of the darkness.

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	26. Discovering Distortions in the Darkness

A/N: Sorry for being so late guys, but all my coursework's done now so hopefully during Easter I can get another chapter done.

**Previous reviewers:**

**Moofy-Fan:**

I think that should be 'bad things happen to Pride when he goes to Central' as well. Innocence is 'shattered' oh that pun was mean Moofy ;-; XD. I'm glad you like his voice-alternation, I wasn't sure about doing it, but I know I made the right decision now :)

We shall see moofy…we shall see…

It's ok that your review's a bit jumbled, it's understandable that you'd want to talk about the part of the chapter that's freshest(?) in your mind first, if you feel bad about it you could always switch them around later I suppose.

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In other news this the first chapter I have wrote while being 16~! It was my birthday on April 7th so I've been rather preoccupied with my 3ds at the moment…sorry, I'm over it now (damn you street fighter!)

First, I would like to bring everyone's attention to Moofy-Fan, who drew this wonderful picture of a scene from chapter 25 (take note that the Pride's clothes are not spot on, but I love it all the same). I also coloured it in, but I ask you to shower her with your appreciation. God knows I have ^_^ You can find in via my Deviantart through my favourites (my DeviantART id is attention2detaille as well), I'm not sure if she wants me giving away her deviantart id but I suppose you can ask her for it.

One more thing, a few character designs of my OCs are now in my DeviantART scrapbook, so feel free to check them out or request one's for other characters if you want ^-^

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Discovering the Distortions in the Darkness**

**November 6th 1712**

The haze stirred a little, huddling itself closer to him until he couldn't breathe, he didn't need to, but he liked to pretend, and his most likely nonexistent body liked to as well, still reacting as if he was still alive on occasion- he knew better.

He didn't know how long it had been, but he knew there was no point in wondering when it would end, because he knew it would never end, he was dead

Pride bowed his head, he probably didn't have a head anymore, but did it nonetheless, silent sobs shaking his entire being, it wasn't fair, he didn't deserve this, he thought all his bitterness had drained away with the rain, the rain that he could barely remember, that felt so long ago, the thought of losing his mind and forgetting who he was or how he had got to this place made him shiver even more. The darkness seemed to constrict, and squeeze around him affectionately, gently rubbing at his cheek, wiping away his tears. It never left him alone; it always stayed close to him, sliding over his body, gliding and caressing with the greatest of care. He knew he should appreciate the company of the darkness, without sight or sound he was so terribly alone, he should have been grateful for the muted sensations he felt, but he didn't, because it didn't feel real, familiar, but nothing like Lust's or Father's, like he was just imagining them.

He felt himself regretting his thoughts immediately; the darkness had heard them, somehow, a slow, sad ripple running through it, before it pulled away, patting his now smooth head and gathering beneath him so that he didn't fall, but otherwise abandoning him. Pride didn't try to apologise, if it wasn't real, there was no point; he just imagined he would sigh and stretch, his imagined arms and legs much shorter than he was used to. The darkness rippled again at that, trying to distract him by stroking down his nose and lull him to sleep, it liked it when he slept, if he was asleep he could perhaps forgot, at least for a little while, forget that he was dead and dream of the times before the dark.

A faint light began swirling in front of his closed eyes, he smiled, he must have fallen asleep already. Pride waited, not daring to move lest he wake himself, as the haze began to crack, and part slowly, clouds of red sweeping in and covering him. He watched it, enjoying the change, however temporary it may have been, he would appreciate every second of it. Pride could feel himself slipping deeper into his dreaming, his body turning numb, and a fizzing filling his ears, false sounds were a nice delusion, whether he could convince himself they were actually there was another matter entirely.

_Wha…Hap…d…Lus…?_

The darkness shuddered at the familiarity, Pride almost wondered if it was better he remembered Father's voice perfectly, or if it just served to remind him of his mistakes, but he knew not to think too hard.

…_I…I di…'t mea…_

Lust's voice was perfect as well, however quivering it was, with what sounded like fear, but how absurd, as if she could be afraid, Lust was hardly ever scared.

…_Ne…min…jus…w…eal…yo…r…pu…ishmen…l…er…_

…_of…rse…Fath…_

The scarlet fog faded, and blurred outlines took its place. He almost panicked at the reappearance of the dark patches of mist, but it passed, it was only Lust. Pride beamed warmly at her, even if she was just his imagination, he was…happy to see her again, even if she couldn't see him. The thought of how the real her must be feeling without him was swiftly pushed from his mind, he didn't want to think about that, not while he was dreaming of more pleasant things, all that would do was make him feel sad, and he didn't want to, he'd had enough of that when he got here...

She was hovering over him, frowning as she did, not looking at his face, but focused and fiddling with something near his chest. Her hand moved up and rested on what might have been his neck, he didn't know, he couldn't feel anything.

_I…S-S…S…ry…Rea…y I am…_

He saw her gulp, and with her spare hand she might have rubbed at his cheek, her gaze boring deep into his, filled with a sorrow he'd never seen before, he didn't want to think of the reason why.

_Mak…h…ste…Lust…_

Lust suddenly pulled away, and everything became a wash of messy blurred colour, he couldn't see properly. Pride tried to close his eyes, but his eyes were already closed, he flinched, everything was spinning. He focused on the something shiny Lust was holding, with red on the tips. The dull touches of the darkness suddenly stabbed at him when he realized.

It was glass.

Glass from his flask.

And she was pulling pieces of it out of _him_

He didn't want this. He didn't want to dream of things like this. It reminded of all those years ago when he first went with Lust upstairs in his container, when he saw those certain humans he saw terrible things flash in his eyes. Pride realized now that it must have all been a warning for what would happen, and he'd just been too stupid to realize it. And now he was going to dream about Lust worrying about him, and she was more competent, so she'd never die, she'd be worrying and feeling guilty and miserable forever…

"Stop! I don't want this, I don't want to dream if I dream about this! Please, make it stop!" He cried out for the dark, wanting it to take him away from everything. Father was there in his dreams now, staring at him, and he reached out his hand and rested it on him, his hand sparking with his alchemy.

Pride heard the shadows shift, and all the colours melted away into black as it rushed forward and swallowed him up.

And he was grateful for that.

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**November 7th 1712**

_What is the meaning of this, Lust?_

However good her intentions were, the whole thing, no matter how many times she considered it, just boiled down to her being a naïve idiot. Father had every reason to punish her, and she would accept it without complaint, it was all she deserved.

Pride stared blankly up at her from the table, eyelids half closed and eyes themselves empty and clouded over, mouth hanging open.

Lust sat down, leaning forward to hold his hand, smoothing her fingers over the back. It was cold. He didn't react; she hadn't expected him to, after what he'd been through…

He'd _killed_ them, all of them; she knew it, finding those humans around him in pieces, mutilated through means impossible to any human. There was no denying that Pride must have played some part in their deaths- whether he meant it or not would determine how much longer he could exist as an innocent. She should have expected this sooner, but knew nothing would prepare her for when he needn't rely on her anymore. She would never bring herself to truly accept it until it was staring her in the face. Father needn't know about that though, what would he do if he found out that Pride had the methods as well as the nerve to kill? No, that was not Pride's purpose; he should have no part in such things.

Pride's flask sat on the table beside him, shining a faint red over his cheek. Father hadn't repaired it properly, to remind him of his mistakes once he awoke, dried lines of his human's blood filling the cracks, looking like veins as they held together the sharp broken fragments. The pointed tips were stained crimson; Lust shuddered as she remembered hanging over him, hand drenched as she ripped them out his arms, neck, chest, stomach, Father observing her from afar, adamant that she fix her mistake alone, even when all his human's blood drained out onto the floor, Father just replaced it and hastily patched his skin back together on the assumption that Pride could repair the scars by himself.

He could_ not. _

Father just didn't understand that Pride didn't know how to control his regenerative abilities yet.

Lust sighed, running her eyes over the enflamed scars scattered over his bare chest, his cleaned and repaired shirt hanging open over his arms, the ties dangling over the table's edges, her ribbon- still blood-stained, tied in a loose bow next to his head. She ran her finger over the cut on his left side, it sinking deeper there, it had pierced further than most of the others, exploiting the empty space a broken rib once occupied. It must have been excruciating…unable to regenerate himself, he must have felt so helpless and alone…

And yet he had managed to slaughter five humans in such a state…

None of this was making any sense.

"Pride…what must they have done to you…to make you hate them enough to want to kill them?" She petted at his matted hair, making note to wash and comb it later, if Father would actually let her. He didn't react, she expected as much, his container did not take kindly to dying, much like Pride himself, Father said the trauma must have forced him to sever his connections with it, leaving him unable to manipulate it at all, even all his human's impulses had stopped for the time being, no longer breathing, heart still, blood sticky and clotting in his veins. The blood under his scars was being constantly replaced, keeping it fresh, but keeping the scars fresh as well. Out of concern Father had considered removing his _real _body and housing him in another flask until it was fully repaired, but if a flask was the cause of injuries then…Lust didn't want to think about how he'd react.

There was a shuffle, and a faint tapping, which turned into scratching over stone.

"…Pride? Are you…ok? Of course you're not but…" She froze, looking him over, his hand twitching, digging his fingers into the table. Pride's head lolled to the side, his distant eyes staring through her, Lust stood up to avoid his gaze, but it seemed to follow her, and she shivered. No, it wasn't her imagination, it _was _following her. He blinked slowly, his dilated pupils thinning out as they focused. A small smile worked its way onto his face, and he yawned, absentmindedly raising an arm to scratch at his neck.

"Pride…no, you aren't supposed to be awake yet, Father hasn't fixed you properly. Just… go back to sleep." Pride just watched her; oblivious as he continued to scratch at his neck more forcefully, his fingernails catching on the frayed skin "Ah! No, Pride, it's itchy because it's… _broken_, you're going to ri-" Pride's mouth moved as if he was crying out when the scar tore open, but no sound followed, and he only threw his head back in shock, gritting his teeth. It split across completely at that, and Pride lay still as the blood flooded out over his fingers. Lust didn't know what to do, as he looked at her hopelessly, eyes wide and shiny with tears, unaware of anything other than the fact that he was going to die again. He reached out for her, desperate and longing for one final comfort, but she couldn't move, she couldn't assess what was happening fast enough. 'Lust' he mimed slowly at her as he felt nothing but empty space 'Lust…_Lust…_Ple—" drops of red trickled out the corner of his mouth, and she saw him sputter and choke, his outstretched hand falling lifeless on the table. His attempts to breathe ceased, and he let his eyes glaze over and slide shut as he slipped away.

"Pride…" Lust whispered, sinking to her knees, hanging her head in shame of just letting him suffer through dying again, he probably thought she didn't care about him, he'd never trust her again she was sure.

"Hey, what you done now?" Lust turned her head,

"H…Hello Greed, it's…it's Pride…he-"

"he still in that 'coma' of his eh?" Lust could feel the smile hidden beneath Greed's words; she held her tongue for the sake of not causing an argument.

"Yes, Father said he isn't ready to wake yet, we must wait a few days."

"Made a right mess of himself didn't he?" Greed sneered, and pushed his glasses up "You know Lust, you seem pretty used to this, is Pride so much of a f-screw up this happens to him all the time? You _are _older so I guess you would know." Lust couldn't bite her tongue for that.

"Shut up, Greed. Just shut up! You're not even half a year old, how can you make assumptions on anything? !" The younger homunculus just smirked, and his smirk grew when the echoing tap of sandals reached them both.

"Sounds like _Pops_ is here…_Big_ _Sis._" Greed stepped to the side and bowed as Father approached. Father took one look at Pride and the blood dripping off the table, raised an eyebrow and looked to her for some justification.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Lust?" Lust bowed low as she was expected, running over a quick explanation in her mind.

"I…Pride reopened the scar in his neck, and he…end…ended up bleeding to death again."

"And _why,_ pray tell, had he not already healed his scarred tissue?"

"He…he wasn't able to regenerate himself." Father glared at her, glancing over at Pride's blood soaked body, shaking his head in disgust.

"I see. I shall repair the new damage after you have cleaned the wounds." Lust nodded, already pushing herself to her feet and preparing to tidy him up, no doubt his clothes would need washing again. "Wait, Lust, we have more important things to attend to" She stopped, and stood up straight.

"Yes, Father?"

"I had originally come to collect you for your punishment for what had happened to Pride, I believe, especially taking into consideration recent events," he gave Pride's body another quick glance "that now will be quite appropriate, I expect no resistance, do you understand, Lust?" He motioned for her to follow him; he'd probably created a separate room for her to be disciplined in.

"Of course, Father, I shall accept my punishment without complaint." And she did, because it was all she deserved.

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**November 13th 1712**

Lust bit into her lip as she waited, patient as Father assessed Pride's condition for a final time before forcing him to wake up. He pressed his fingers into Pride's throat for good measure.

"You said Pride could not speak, Lust?" She nodded "The vocal chords are severed, which explains why he was unable to do so, but given Pride's separation from his container's basic functions, he may not begin to use them again once they are repaired. But nothing will be resolved if we do not see how he functions while awake" Without another word Father pressed his palm into Pride's chest, his alchemy flowing out from his fingertips and into the body below it, mending the torn skin and slashed throat and snapped vocal chords with ease. The young form of the first homunculus quivered at the sensation, his hair standing on end, a few moments passed in silence, and the boy suddenly gasped, his eyes snapping open at the feeling of air rushing into his lungs _through his mouth_. Pride lay perfectly still, panting and savouring the air as he did, folding his arms over his chest, grinning from ear to ear at the little rhythms that reached him from inside.

_He was alive._

"Are you alright, Pride? Can you speak?" Pride sat up, still smiling as he saw Father, almost tempted to reach out and cry on his shoulder, but that wasn't proper. Lust was beside him, looking away for some reason, like she wasn't happy to see him, he didn't think about it, considering it better to thank Father for keeping him alive, even if Father thought he might not be able to talk, he…he felt like he could…somehow. He moved his mouth for the words, but nothi-

"**Thank you." **Everyone seemed to flinch, even himself, was that _his _voice? He sounded nothing like that **"Father…There's something wrong with my…" **Again the words came out after he had said them, as if it was echoing, several different whispers sounding beneath his new warped tone. Father was staring at him, eyebrow quirked as if his voice reminded him of something, something he didn't know about. Lust had turned to look at him too, hand over her mouth. He began to frown when Father put his hands on his shoulders.

"Pride, do you remember what happened to you before?" Pride nodded, those awful memories flooding back to him, along with the thoughts of the pain and that funny little thing that might have still been around inside him somewhere

"**I fell on my flask, and my neck…I couldn't breathe…and my voice sounded like it does now."**

"Pride, do you remember when you were infected with influenza, and your voice was distorted? Well, this is similar, as your vocal chords- the things which allow you to speak" Father tapped against his throat at that "were damaged, they will take some time fully repairing themselves, I have done all I can with alchemy, but rest assured, your voice will return to normal after a while. When you were injured you disconnected yourself from your container, which may also hinder certain actions. I suggest you relax and not do anything for a few days, which will give your container time to 'reattach' itself to you, so to speak." Pride nodded again, seeing no reason why he should not believe Father, he just wouldn't talk that much from now on, at least until his voice was fixed.

"**Ok, Father."** With that Father gently set Pride on the floor, retying Lust's now stain-free ribbon around his neck and sending him on his way.

Lust still looked unhappy for some reason, and Pride still couldn't figure out why. He smiled up at her as he wrapped his arms around her waist. **"Thank you, Lust."**

"What for, Pride? I've done nothing but make you suffer these past few days…"

"**But…you must have found me, upstairs, and if you hadn't…I really would have…**_**died**_**…" **He just felt her rub at his back, tracing patterns with her finger as she returned the hug. Usually he would have relaxed at the soothing gesture, but he just felt the same, perhaps even more awake, it felt strange.

"Well, Father says you should spend some time alone to help you forget about what happened, I'll tell Greed to not bother you, Okay?" Pride smiled for a final time, before wandering off to another part of the room.

After a few minutes Pride felt awful, the uneasy feeling inside him only kept building and building and it wouldn't go away, it felt like the funnily little thing, except he had nothing to force it upon, and he certainly wasn't proud that he had managed to separate his connection to his container. He was beginning to lose his sense of balance, his skin feeling like it was rippling when he moved, all up his legs and down his arms and it made him feel sick. He sat down but then he just felt restless and fidgety, and whatever had been separated from his container pressed and scratched softly at his insides. It didn't hurt, but it was irritating.

He caught sight of something a ways off, something white and fluffy walking along the floor. Pride considered ignoring it, until it looked at him and froze; it was that mouse from before. Pride flashed it a smile, despite his agitated mood, and crawled closer to it, it still didn't move an inch, the hairs round its nose twitching.

"**H-Hello there, Little Mouse. We haven't seen each other for a few days, I think, do you remember me?" **He carefully scooped it up with his hands, and switched so he was only holding it with one. **"I know you don't speak like I do, well, I'm not talking very normal today either, but I just want you to tell me somehow that you're sorry for biting me the other day." **There was a quick pulse in the mouse's chest; it must have been its 'heart', the thing that kept it alive **"So, if we can be friends from now on, I can even call you **_**Mr. Mouse**_** if you want me to…" **The pulsing increased, and the mouse looked like it was breathing faster, did that mean it was more…alive? He just kept smiling at it, using his other hand to stroke at its head.** "Is that ok…or not?" **It stared at him, its crimson eyes shiny and unblinking, he leaned closer, as he felt its pulsing speed up to little more than a hum, Pride pressed his thumb into its fur to try and feel it better, curious **"Ok then, I'll let you go now…" **He looked to it again, but it was sagged over his fingers now, its eyes still open, but dull and empty. The pulse it its chest had faded away to nothing, he frowned, poking at it **"Mr. Mouse, what's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"** Pride opened his hand but it just fell onto the floor with a quiet thump. He gasped, and felt tears stinging behind his eyes.

It had died.

It would rather die than be friends with him.

He sniffed, and curled himself up in a ball, sobbing quietly to himself in his misery, that anyone who wasn't a homunculus hated him. The feeling of restlessness inside him drained away, as if just spilling out onto the floor. He didn't see it as worth being so alone though, but if Father wanted him to spend time by himself then…

He heard something shift, but didn't bother to see who or what it was, it was better if he was alone.

Until something wrapped around his waist.

His eyes shot open, and he saw a thin black line coiled around his stomach. Pride yelped and tried to push himself to his feet, but more of them shot from the floor, constricting his thighs and ankles, and he collapsed.

The shadows! How could even his own _shadow_ hate him?

Pride wanted to cry out, but the ones from his thigh moved and one tightened over his mouth, carrying on and tightening around his neck. He shrieked and kicked out blindly, but the urge suddenly faded away and he gave in with a dejected sigh. A shadow shaped like a hand floated near his head, its sharp fingers rigid, it was going to cut his face open, maybe stab his eyes out, Pride trembled, and winced as he prepared for the pain. A moment passed, and the shadow came to rest on his cheek, molding to its shape and rubbing at it gently, a small gasp escaped him when he felt the touch of his cheek, and the warmth of his tears that fell on it as if it were his own hand. Before the thought of wanting it to stop had passed his lips he felt it move away, and he sat up on his knees, staring up at the shadow in awe, realizing how odd it was for a shadow to not have an owner.

The hand twisted itself aimlessly as the others loosened and pulled away, one, two, three, four more little black hands with sharp pointed fingers joining it. They swayed softly in a non-existent breeze and stayed obediently motionless as he studied them, one moving only to brush a strand of hair out of his eyes and wipe away a tear.

"**Who…what…what are you? W-Why are you…" **The hands intertwined with each other, and sank flat against the floor. Pride frowned, wondering if he had imagined the whole thing, He knew he hadn't, his fingers had joints, the shadows' hadn't, so the hand shaped shadows weren't just his hand's shadows, he supposed. Something seemed to swell behind him, and suddenly the something blocked out the light. He looked up, a round, larger shadow was arched over him, with a long row of square teeth running down it, and a dark purple line where Pride imagined an eye might be. It curled close to him, hands reemerging from the ground and wrapping around his arms and legs tenderly. He petted at the edge of it with a grin, imagining it was smiling back, ignoring the funny feeling of almost being in two places at once as he touched it.

He was so happy to have made a new friend that he just didn't care.

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Later, when Father returned to check on Pride, he found him sitting beside a small corpse of a mouse, smiling and laughing hysterically, while the great shadow that was his own nuzzled playfully into his chest with its pointed tip, running its fingers through his hair and wrapping around his back. More shadows were there to cushion his fall when he was too tired to play anymore and it pushed him over. Pride just pulled it close to him and snuggled into it instead.

Father grimaced, and thought it was perhaps the strangest yet somehow most disgusting thing he had ever witnessed.

And he sighed.

Pride and the shadow heard him, the former stifling a contended yawn as they both turned towards him with an almost identical grin, albeit Pride's being a drowsy grin.

"**Look, Father, I found this… um… this …well, he's my new friend, isn't he nice?" **The voice that echoed from Pride's mouth seemed to be more befitting of his shadow instead. Of course it would be more appropriate for the shadow's voice, it was the voice Pride had before…There was no avoiding this now.

"So, you've finally found out?" Father tugged uneasily at his beard "I suppose, that there are many things that I shall need to explain to you, my child." Pride and his shadow nodded, but the latter closed over Pride's body and covered him like a blanket. As Pride began to doze off his shadow began to lose its shape, it lowering him onto the floor with the greatest of care as it receded back into nothing more than a pale grey reflection of its owner's form. Father shook his head, and sighed once more, before leaving the younger homunculus to sleep.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

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It isn't a good thing that I imagined Pride playing with his shadows as like 'a series of unfortunate events' where Sunny plays with the 'incredibly deadly viper' is it? Well, I suppose Pride using his shadows isn't a good thing full stop…

Edit: Moofy seems to not mind me advertising for her, so please check out her pic at (please remember to remove the spaces):

http:/weevilo ./ art/Pride- Broken-Flask- 203062335

My coloured version can be found here, but please remember to give all your praise to hers ^_^:

http:/attention2detaille. / art/Weevilo- Broken-Flask-Coloured- 203504058

Reviews are appreciated as always ^.^


	27. Growing Pains

A/n: Hello everyone, I'm so sorry that I've not updated for so long, I really wanted to update last week for the first anniversary of the fic, but real life's been messed up lately, as at the beginning of the month my mother passed away, so I couldn't do anything at all for a while. I really wanted to get this chapter out so I could take a break now. I'll also probably be taking a break anyway as my GSCEs are starting next week. :(

On a much more lighthearted note, today was the Eurovision song contest, I still think us in the UK take it far too seriously while everyone else in Europe usually has really eccentric and fun songs, I heard a bit of our song (by Blue the boyband…bleh!), so I'm standing by my idea that we should ask Richard O'Brien to write our song, since he KNOWS how to show just how fun our Britishness can be ;-; and given how much Europe loves the Rocky Horror Show…

So, all in all, I'm sorry if this chapter isn't up to scratch, and I'm sorry for making you wait so long for it ;-;

Reviewers:

Moofy-Fan:

My head says that Lust's punishment involved fire, but I left it ambiguous for a reason ;) Shame that she always gets the blame because she looks older than Pride and should be able to look after him.

Yay for symbolism, I actually was kinda reluctant to bring the flask back after completely destroying it, but I couldn't bring myself to just stop mentioning it all of a sudden, and it would make sense for Lust to collect all the pieces she pulled out of Pride or found nearby and beg for Father to repair it.

I feel bad for little Mr. Mouse (that's his name now) too, he could sense all the people inside Pride's philosopher's stone and was terrified, and his attempts to be friends with it in his deep voice was just too much for it ;-; Aww, you have a cat, that's awesome…a cat that kills mice but…well, my cat used to kill things too, or so I was told…

Father-son, Father-Pride convo is definitely no good for Pride, but I'm not giving anything away ^.^

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Anyway, FMA still isn't mine

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Growing Pains**

**November 14****th**** 1712**

"He's been in there for a long time, hasn't he?" Lust nodded, switching her legs over as she crossed them, her lips set in a thin line. "Wonder how long _Pops's_ gonna keep him…" She didn't answer, keeping her attention focused on the door at the far end of the room, the one that lead to the room she'd been punished in. She knew that Pride had not been taken there for such reasons, Pride was much too well behaved for that. No sound reached either of the two homunculi, but they were under strict orders not to disturb them, and they both knew better than to so much as go near the door.

Three hours, if she were to guess. That's how long Pride and Father had been in there, Father had woken Pride personally that morning, and far too early for someone like him, whispering something in his ear and hurriedly ushering him away like he wanted no one to see him.

"Ya think it's bout his voice? It's still messed up aint it?" Lust turned, as if it was the only sensible thing Greed had said in his life. The moment passed, and she shook her head

"Father said he couldn't fix Pride's voice, maybe it's so Pride can repair himself without us, Father did tell him to keep to himself so he can relax." Greed watched his glasses cloud up as he breathed over them, wiping over the lens absentmindedly.

"What _is _up with his voice, Lust? It sure had you and Father spooked, I mean I know it isn't normal for a kid—I mean '_isn't normal for someone who has the appearance of a child like our simply darling Big Brother Pride to have such a strange voice_', if Pride isn't human anyway why does it matter?" The younger homunculus pushed the glasses back onto the bridge of his nose with a snide little smirk, folding his arms.

"It matters, _Greed_, because it's the voice Pride had…_before._"

"Before what?"

"Before he found…before Father gave him his container." Lust raised her eyebrow, surely Father had told him about Pride, then again…Father hated Pride's flask so much he might've wanted to forget about the relevance of Pride carrying it about with him. "You don't know? But…you know Pride's body isn't real don't you? Made differently to ours?" She was _not _to imply anything other than Pride's container being artificial, it wasn't made from a human…it wasn't…

Greed just looked curious, and he leaned forward on his hands, his interest piqued, it would certainly pass the time if nothing else.

"I'll take that as a 'no' then…" Lust sighed, considering whether it was better to tell Greed about how Pride was born, it couldn't do much harm, and Father probably wouldn't mind. She ran over certain parts Greed needn't know, or anyone else for that matter, and the lies she had previously used to ensure no one found out the things Father deemed unimportant. "Well, I'll just have to tell you…"

Explaining all this was _certainly_ going to be fun.

0 * 0 * 0

Pride blinked a few times, lest his eyes be deceiving him, they did that when he was tired, made things blurry and vague, but he wasn't tired anymore, he _definitely _wasn't tired anymore.

"Can you see it, Pride?" The younger homunculus gulped and nodded, staring at the hole in his arm between Father's fingers, and at the darkness inside, that he could feel swirling and rippling underneath his skin. He suddenly felt sick and squirmed about on the new table in this room that he'd never been in before.

"**My body…it isn't…real?" **Pride murmured softly as the ever familiar sparks flickered over his arm and warmed him from head to toe, but did nothing to help soothe him, he was just happy to have his…_insides_ hidden from sight once more.

"No, it is not composed of the same artificial material your younger siblings' bodies are made of; your body is merely a container for your true form" Father smoothed his finger over the repaired flesh as it returned to its usual pale colour. Pride just shivered a little and stared up in what seemed to be more fear than curiosity.

"**My… my true…?" **he shot a nervous glance towards the edge of the table, his cracked and red lined flask, perhaps his true form was how he used to be…_before_...

"Yes, your _true _form- the _shadows_ that lay within you, that you manipulate to move your container." The face of Father's eldest child was blank and frozen and pale, his eyes wide with the astonishment of it all. Pride slouched, lifting his feet onto the tabletop and curling into a ball, he raised his shaking hands and stared at them, wincing as he moved his fingers and realized that it was _those things _moving them instead. His wince made him flinch further at the thought of them controlling even his most subtle of actions and soon he was desperately trying not to move an inch, regardless of how ridiculous and childish he was being. Being so still he could feel them, brushing along the inside of his skin and rearranging themselves, he grimaced and squeezed his eyes shut, forcing his hands into them.

"**Stop it…Go away…"** He could _hear _them now, hear them sliding about and-

"Pride." Father's voice ripped him out of his daze, and he blushed in shame of the way he was behaving in front of Father and sat up straight

"**I…I'm s-s-sorry Father, it's just…I…"**

"As I was about to say, though you cannot survive outside a container, it seems that you are capable of expanding parts of your…_shadow_, for lack of better terms- there is no human term for what your body is composed from, but you can expand your body out of your container," Pride frowned, his new friend wasn't real at all, it must've been his shadows, being disobedient…even if they were trying to make him feel better… "which may prove to be useful to me in the future, that is why I have brought you to this room. If you learn to fully control your shadows, they will completely reconnect with your container, and I believe that your feelings of unease will fade." A small smile spread across Pride's face, half in delight that his unease would go away, half in the fact that he would be of use to Father if he learned how to control these 'shadows' of his.

And then Father would be proud.

But something still lingered at the back of his head, some defiant, ignorant thought that he shouldn't have even be worth considering, but it forced its way out of his mouth in his distorted voice before he could attempt to push it away

"**Father, why did you make me different to Lust and Greed?" **He shouldn't question Father, and he shrunk away, covering his mouth. Father just grinned, and rested his hands on Pride's shoulders.

"You are my first, and finest creation, Pride. You have been loyal to me since you were created over a century ago"

"**I know what you expect of me, I'm sorry for questioning you, Father, I-"**

"However…" Father pulled back his sleeve, and motioned towards his arm, close to where Pride's own arm had been torn open earlier, Pride leaned closer "there is something that I have kept from you," Father's skin was much paler than his own, Father tapped it lightly with his finger, and a soft-lit spark fizzed where he touched it. Pride flinched as Father's skin split and he held it open "but I feel as though you are mature enough to be informed of that now. You see…" Pride peered inside, rubbing one of his eyes when he couldn't see anything, it was just empty and black, but the blackness stirred with a familiar sound, the younger homunculus gasped, it was…it was… "_My_ body is also a container."

Pride couldn't move, Father had specifically chosen to create him in the shape of his original form; he had created a container for him much as he had himself, and _he_ had had the nerve to be disgusted by he fact that his body was formed from shadows. Pride almost thought he caught glimpse of a pinkish-red eye through the dark of Father's _real _body, but Father pulled away and covered it again before he could make sure. "You are the first I have revealed this fact to, Pride, I hope you appreciate that, and realize its significance."

Pride bowed his head through his shame of insulting and being unappreciative of his form, he knew the truth now, he would never question Father's decisions ever again. But to be the only homunculus to have such a form, and to be the only one to know of Father's own container, it made him feel so…_proud, _and the feeling bubbled up inside him until his shadows shuddered and pressed teasingly at his feet for a reason he wasn't aware of and had to squeeze his eyes tight to push it away. He lifted his head with a smile, and bowed his whole body forward instead; mouthing the most suitable words and patiently awaiting them to be voiced a little after he had done so.

"**Thank you for entrusting me with such knowledge, Father."**

0 * 0 * 0

Father said that he needed to concentrate, concentrate and be able to willingly use his shadows, before they only reacted to his feelings, if he was lonely they would try to remedy that, if he ever wanted to learn how to use them he'd need to try his best to do as Father wished.

Pride held out his hand as he had been instructed to, beaming as something he hadn't seen in so long fell into his palm, and after what had happened to him he couldn't hide his delighted grin, not that he would want to in the slightest.

"I believe that one of _these _will be imperative if we wish to utilize your abilities."

"**Thank you, Father." **Soft wisps of crimson and a lighter red swirled within the stone, distracting him for a moment, the patterns always kept him amused. But he knew he mustn't waste time on such things, and he pushed the pebble past his lips and gulped it down without a word.

"Very good. Now, we must begin to understand what will provoke your shadows into reappearing. An emotion may trigger the initial reaction, but that will not serve to be convenient at a later date, so we will instead attempt a more…simple method." Pride bowed his head, nodding; he'd do whatever Father wanted. "Pride, I want you to focus, focus inside yourself."

"**What do you mean, Father?"**

"Close your eyes." And Pride did so "Do you see…colours? Or shapes in front of your eyes?" He nodded again "focus further back, behind your eyes, somewhere deep inside your head."

Pride didn't understand exactly what Father meant by that, and he didn't really see how it would help him control his shadows, but Father knew that he was doing, he shouldn't question him- he would never...

He forced his vision back, or at least imagined he did, further until his eyes crossed while closed and made him blink. But he wouldn't open his eyes; he just pushed his mind back further, until something seemed to change.

"**ngh…Father, there's something…I don't know how to…"**

"Do _not _lose your focus now, Pride." It was different, there was a low drumming inside his head somewhere, almost like that funny little thing, clearer than he'd ever heard it before, but he could hear something else as well, something…wrong, that felt as though it didn't really want to be found but at the same time did. Pride approached it with caution, and the funny little thing became more forceful, as if to discourage him. He could hear it now, it reaching him in slow whispers, almost like a song, and he smiled, maybe if he could figure out exactly what it meant…

…they didn't seem to be words…

But they didn't stop…

They never seemed to stop…

Pride realized then, and he gasped, and screwed his eyes shut tighter.

"**Fa-Father, these…there's voices…in my head, and they're screaming, they-they won't go away! What are they?"**

"You are well aware that Philosopher's stones are formed from the souls of humans, Pride. It is only natural that you will be able to hear the voices of those souls." Pride couldn't begin to understand it all, there were…people inside him? The voices began to become more distinct, and they shrieked hateful things at him, begging him to kill them, or calling out for their 'mothers' or siblings…or children…

"**Father…please, make it stop…I can't…I can't take it…" **Minutes passed before he realized he was crying, and in front of Father too…

"There is nothing I can do Pride, you must simply accept this, just as Lust and Greed have."

Nothing needed to be said after that, Pride just looked up at Father with his streaming eyes, nodding slowly. His mouth opened as if he were about to say something, but the voices rose up and echoed through his head in tortured screams that only increased in volume and desperation. Pride couldn't stand it, biting his lip in an attempt to quash his sobs until it split, curling up in a quivering ball on the table and clamping his hands over his ears. Deep down he knew it would do no good, and the thought only made him sob more at the childishness and futility of everything.

Father gave him a look that may have appeared to be one of sympathy, but it passed, and Father just shook his head, letting his immature child to calm down and accept the truth. Alone.

0 * 0 * 0

**9th December 1712**

He was much more mature now, far too mature to be concerned about the humans that constantly shrieked and wailed inside his head, it wasn't like he cared for them. Besides, he could only hear them if he focused too hard, so…if he kept himself distracted…he wouldn't be able to hear them, then he could pretend they weren't there at all and forgot all about them…

Pride sucked in a breath, training his sight on the pale patch of grey on the floor, crossing his legs tighter as he stared, willing his 'shadows' to move. Father had said that if he remembered about how he felt when they appeared the first time they'd come out again, and at his imitated sadness they had emerged from the floor, five little hands on thin oversized arms, obedient as ever, to comfort him.

_But that was no good!_

He needed to make them listen to _him, _rather than his emotions, if they didn't do as he said then how could he ever hope to help Father properly?

"Pride." The crestfallen sin wilted further at his Father's voice, he wasn't being disobedient, but he just couldn't…

"**Yes, Father?" **he mumbled, not raising his head, still glaring at the rippling shadow beneath him with an irritated frown.

"It seems we are having more trouble utilizing your shadows than I had anticipated, especially after the…incident almost a month ago," Pride nodded, running his finger along the odd malleable material of his shadow, feeling his finger brush underneath his eye, he didn't think he'd ever get used to that. He continued prodding absentmindedly around the dark purple line in the shadow, there were no teeth in it anymore; they'd gone away for some reason… "but if you believe yourself to have accepted the truth about Philosopher's stones, then I see no reason why we should not be able to continue attempting to manipulate your shadows." Pride looked closer, gently poking at the line, feeling it on an eyelash. The line suddenly ripped in half. A gasp that ended in a strained yelp escaped his mouth.

It was an eye, an eye that was just _there _in his shadow, larger than his hands, a slit pupil stuck to the floor, sitting in a wide drop of a mix between red and purple. His vision suddenly blurred and then he was looking from somewhere else, he could see himself, and then he could see in both places, but neither were focused and wouldn't stop fading in and out… in and…

Pride groaned, holding his head, he couldn't think straight; he was getting so dizzy and lightheaded. HE scrunched eyes shut and fell forward, pushing all his weight onto the horrible thing, digging his fingers into it, but he only saw himself covering the place he could see from the floor…

He saw the eye wince and try to move away, it looked rather…

Pride cried out at the sudden pain inside his head.

Something was stabbing his eyes, blunt and soft and yet pushing ever so hard, if it didn't stop they'd burst he was sure. Pride threw himself backwards and covered his face with his arms, kicking and smashing his feet into the ground, his heels pressing further into the eye, shooting another wave of pain through him.

"Pride, be still." Father's voice echoed around him, and through the spot on the floor he could see a blurry outline of Father picking him up from the ground, shadows hanging out from his feet. Father lifted him a little further and the shadows fell apart, and everything went dark. Pride felt as though he was moving back into his own body, he sighed, opening his flared, inflamed eyes, and forcing a weak smile. "Being rash again, weren't we?" There was no point in pretending everything was fine, Father would know, Father _already _knew what he'd done, the child-like homunculus just behaved like the being he was unwittingly mimicking, bowing his head and nodding into his Father's shoulder, meek and apologetic as he should be. "You damaged your eyes, by damaging the eye inside your shadows, how peculiar…that your senses are connected between the two, a sign that your shadows are not accustomed to existing outside your container, perhaps one day they shall function independently instead." The ever comforting warmth that came with Father's alchemy spread over him from his back, and he shut his eyes as he waited for the swelling to heal. Pride yawned; maybe if he slept he'd be able to focus better afterwards, smiling a genuine smile as he inevitably began to drift off "It is not time for you to rest, Pride, we still have much to learn about how your shadows function." Father set him down again "From this we have established that your shadow materializes through your container's feet, I advise against wearing shoes until our…analysis is complete. They may also be the possibility that it forms over your 'real' shadow, though your shadow is almost constantly rooted to your container through your feet, so the result would seem to be the same. Please keep this in mind." Pride didn't really understand anything other than he wasn't allowed to wear shoes anymore. He glanced down at the floor, and frowned as his shadow once again spilled out from under his feet in a small black puddle without him wanting it to. Maybe one day it would actually listen to him and do what he said, but that would only happen if Father could understand how it worked, and for that to happen he'd need to…

Today was going to be a long day.

And he supposed all the days from now on would be too…

0 * 0 * 0

.

**July 11****th**** 1713**

The light in the spare room of Father's lair- what Lust and Greed now called Pride's permanent room- was dimmer than usual, dim because Father was slouching on his replacement chair, observing with a twitching eye his eldest child stare at the floor he was sprawled over, fidgeting like he did every night with his shadow pooled around him, but he always fell asleep before Father did.

Pride couldn't sleep; his shadows were still restless beneath his skin, there was still something they wanted from him before they would connect to his container and leave him alone. He should have been used to only sleeping when _they _wanted him to by now. He sighed, bending his fingers at random and checking to see if his shadow reacted in any way, it listened to him more these days, growing a little every day, which he assumed would make Father happy, but he still could only make it move off the ground by more than a couple of dozen inches, nothing like when it folded over him the first time. On a whim he raised his hand and watched the shadow lift up and stretch to try and reach it, a little closer than it was yesterday, and if he squinted he could make it stretch for a moment to touch the tip of his fingers with the sharp little black ones of his shadow, he supposed that was an improvement, he was never sure if he was actually getting better, he'd been in this different room for so long and the only thing that ever seemed to happen was him discovering the things he _couldn't _do yet. He couldn't use his shadows properly because they preferred to act on what they thought he _needed_ rather than _wanted_, he couldn't open the eyes in his shadows because he couldn't see properly in two places at once and it ended up giving him a headache, and he couldn't make any teeth in his shadows because…

He still didn't know the answer to that one.

A yawn escaped him, and the shadows nipped at his insides at the very _implication_ that they were going to allow him to sleep yet. Pride rolled onto his back and carefully undid Lust's ribbon from his neck, it was the only thing he had to remember Lust, he hadn't been allowed to leave since he was brought here, and he knew he never would be until he could control his shadows, the way things were going, he'd never see her again. Pride sniffed and wiped his eyes at the very thought, he shouldn't think like that. A shadow rubbed at his cheek, ever wishing to comfort him, he scowled.

"**Go away, I don't want you to try and help me, when I want help I will ask for it." **The sharp-fingered hand carried on anyway, even when he forcibly pulled it away and pushed it down into the floor.

Pride's flask sparkled to itself in its new, _soft _holder, Pride's pillow, sometimes Pride wished he could hold it like he used to, but he wasn't allowed to even touch it anymore, it was far too fragile now, if he made just one mistake it might break again…and then…

Pride smiled weakly at it, crawling close and laying Lust's ribbon around the pillow, whispering an 'I'm sorry' like he did every night, and being tempted to reach out and pat it, but he never did.

The flask looked darker now, its pale cracks turning deeper and less defined. Pride blinked curiously and pushed onto his knees. Father shifted in his chair with a sigh and another shade of grey fell over the room, he could hardly see a thing. His shadows stirred and coiled around his knees and hands with an enthusiasm that he'd never felt outside his container.

"**What's wrong? Why are you acting so…?"**

They only tightened as all the light faded completely. He couldn't see anything now, and his shadows fell still and silent, Pride dared not move in case he accidentally knocked over his flask.

"**Where have you gone?" **The shadows inside him flared and scratched in response** "Oh…back inside? But why?" **

"Because shadows cannot exist without a source of light" The light returned with Father's voice "and there shall only be a light source in our home when I am awake."

"**F-Father, I…I'm sorry to have woken you, the shadows faded away and I became confused as to why, thank you for informing me, I will not disturb you again." **The only reply was darkness falling once again, and the shadows again became irritated. Pride shuffled at the feeling and shushed them, as if Father would be able to hear. Despite the darkness, Pride managed to smile, and lay down to sleep despite the fierce objections of his shadows, curling up and pushing his thumb into his mouth. He knew they probably wouldn't allow him to sleep, but it was nice to pretend that he could ignore them.

"**Goodnight, Father." **

Pride waited calmly until they wore themselves out, and sighed as he nestled in his place on the stone floor, letting the weak movements of the shadows inside lull him to sleep.

0 * 0* 0 * 0 * 0


	28. Lengthening Shadows

A/N: after almost three weeks I'm back, I've been writing it all half-term, and now I'd best be revising for my exams, so expect the next chapter to be a little late ^.^

Now, just before I forget, this chapter has stolen last chapters name, and last chapter has been given the what I consider the more fitting name of 'Growing Pains', just letting people know in case they get some bad déjà vu.

And here is the chapter where everything goes to hell…again. I really overdid this chapter and wrote tons more than I thought I would, and to make sure the chapter didn't get too long I've moved the last scene of this chapter to the beginning of next chapter, while I don't think this'll work very well thinking ahead, I don't want to risk making the chapter like…7000 words DX.

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-Fan-

Thanks, I do appreciate having a little bit of time away to sort things out. 

Yeah, Pride's mini-break down can't be good for him, but given his determination to go back to how everything used to be, he just tries to forget about it and say it's all fine, even if it really isn't ;-; 

I'm glad you liked the scene with the eye, I originally planned it to be a funny scene but it turned out bothering Pride again, basically the whole chapter was Pride being told horrible things about his powers and trying to learn how to control them. Oh, the shadows are being disobedient for good reason, given my symbolism they represent Pride's…um…evil nature, well, that's probably a given but I'll be showing more about it later…oh me and my far too obvious symbolism…I really am subtle as a brick aren't I? XD

ChibiPhantom:

Hm…this person has reviewed chapter 1…so there'd be no point replying here…maybe I should pm instead…? I don't know what to do…maybe I'll wait until they review again and reply in a chunk later like I did with Muddywolf…

0 * 0

I've said it 27 times, and I'll say it again, Hiromu-sensei owns Fullmetal Alchemist.

0 * 0* 0 * 0 * 0

**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Lengthening Shadows**

**September 1713**

They were laughing at him, just like the first time, their mocking voices blending together until only one reached him, he'd never been able to distinguish them, there was no possibility of him being able to now. He didn't move an inch, glaring at them as he had almost a year before, but the differences were obvious now, and he glanced down at his flask- at its cracks and the lines that defined where it was going to break, when he fell, there was no avoiding it.

He should have been used to this by now.

"Why…why won't you leave me alone? Even after all this time… " Pride tried in vain to force the events to alter themselves. It was strange to hear his _real _voice again, at the same time he moved his mouth too…

The boys ignored him, carrying on whether he was playing along or not. The homunculus scowled, letting his shadows seep out from his feet and coil around his ankles, ignoring the rule of not using his shadows with his shoes on– logic didn't exist in a place like this.

"You've done this to me almost fifty times now; surely you must tire of it." Before, when he hadn't figured it out, he had been mindlessly made to repeat his words from that day, all his actions rehearsed and jittery as he tried to resist, until the inevitable came and he… He was supposed to turn around now, but Pride stood firm and shook his head to whatever compelled him to re-enact that awful day every night without fail. And yet his heels swiveled themselves around and forced his legs forward, away from them, giving the tallest a clear view of his back- it wouldn't be long now.

"So…you're not only a liar, shrimp, shut-in, idiot and a monster, you're a bloody hypocrite too!" Pride considered throwing his flask away early, if he wasn't holding his flask in front of him then he couldn't fall on it, but he knew such a thing was not permitted, his fingers no longer responded to him, fixed to the glass and pressed up to his neck. He shivered at the coldness of it; it wouldn't be cold in a moment, when part of it was lodged in his throat. Pride pushed himself onto his tiptoes, might as well make his job easier, and sighed when the dirt covered hands of that thieving, older boy smashed into his back. He closed his eyes as he overbalanced, trembling at the high-pitched cry his flask gave as it smashed.

His façade of boredom and mild irritation ended there, the sudden return of the pain- still as sharp and familiar as ever- made everything fall back into its usual place, and without a thought the dream had degenerated back into actual occurrences. He was there again- back in that alleyway lit by a single forlorn lamp on the wall on that dreary day in November, he could feel the pulling in his neck of his torn vocal chords, and the sticky red puddle forming beneath him. Pride stayed silent for a while, waiting for them to walk around to the front of him and stare like they always did.

"**I wonder…**if you **consider this **to be rather…**trite **by **now**.**" **His attempts to alter the dream were failing, and his fear continued to grow with the distortion of his voice and the liquid pouring from him as he spoke. Little splotches of black flickered in his eyes, and over the sound of the rain he could hear his shadows quivering close to him, one pressing against his ear.

_**Can make them go away…**_

Pride blinked, he hadn't said that. Who was…? A shadow waved close to the humans, pointing to them.

_**Wouldn't that be nice?**_

There was no point wondering about that, real as it seemed, a small part of the homunculus knew it was still a dream, so why would he want them to go away again? They were already gone, Lust probably 'killed' them when she found him, he supposed.

_**Done before…why not…**_

Whoever was talking in his voice was making no sense, dreams weren't supposed to make sense, but he was the one who always acted how he should, why would he give his voice to someone else?

**_just need to… _want_…_**

Pride blinked harder, soon it would be time for the funny little thing to wake up and do whatever it did to wake _him _up. But all this noise seemed to be irritating it, and as he felt it stir and shake inside his head it brought a dull pain that steadily increased as it become more forceful, his teeth sliding off his soaked lip as he tried to bite into it.

_**Should be… proud…**_

The funny little thing flared up at the word, throbbing until he couldn't help but wince. Pride shifted his weight a little, slowly raising his hand to tug at the shadow stuck to his face, feeling his other shadows raise themselves from the floor without his permission.

_**Why not?**_

He gasped; his shadow had an eye in it again, eyes, and _teeth_, teeth that were tightly clenched, and the mouth curved into a frown. The eye stared at him, unblinking, almost in curiosity, but after a few moments it scowled, its pupil thinning out to little more than a line as it clenched its teeth tighter.

_**Why not?**_

Pride shuffled away from it, tempted to push it away, but those teeth…he didn't want to risk losing fingers, but his shadow would never do such a thing. The funny little thing exploded quietly and painlessly without him noticing, and the darkness crept further into his sight, he noted with a red stained smile that the dream was coming to an end.

The shadows were having none of it, all of them convulsing around him, their eyes widening as they shook and expanded. They glared again, one opening its mouth slightly, perhaps to hiss, its eye sliding shut and opening half-way, dark iris of red and pink gleaming through the rain.

He was too exhausted to focus anymore, and through his blurring vision he watched them glance over at the humans once more, and it seemed what they saw there amused them, their mouths twisting into a row of malicious smirks. The last thing Pride saw was them shake as if they were laughing, chatter their teeth excitedly, and lunge…

Pride awoke gasping for air, an indescribable fear evident in his frantic gaze, he couldn't see a thing, and his fingers dug into the stone floor, desperate for some sign of where he was. His eyes strained through the dark, trying to focus on what little he could see through the tears he didn't remember crying, the only sound was his shallow breathing, but someone else was breathing too, and he tensed, biting on his dry lips, not daring to make a sound. After a while he became aware of his surroundings, _too _aware, he could feel hear see _everything_ around him. Inside him too, his shadows squirming about and clamping their fangs around whatever they could find, the skin inside his fingers, his legs, his ribs, there were some missing, and he felt the soft cushion of them supporting his back, spread out over the floor. This meant there was a light source, and there was, four feet to the left of him, a small candle, its wax melted three quarters of the way down, a spare candle sitting next to it. Its flame flickered as a shadow fanned at it playfully, defiant to the light and heat, but the fire sent a shudder through it, straight to Pride's 'real' hand when it dipped its sharp pointed fingers in the pool of wax, and it receded to his body in slow, downtrodden motions. Father was asleep, his breathing soft and calm through his nose, that was the whole reason the candles had been placed about the room, Father wanted his shadows to be able to freely express themselves while he slept, ever since Pride had been 'dreaming' every night his shadows became…disagreeable during the day, weary and sluggish if he woke during the night, or disobedient and unruly if the nightmare lasted until the morning. Father hoped letting them do as they pleased would help them calm and be more willing to listen to him again. Pride didn't remember the nightmares, only recalling the fear he always awoke to, and the presence of his shadows in his dreams, he didn't even remember what he had been dreaming of moments before clearly, he never did, but Father didn't think it important, it was better to forget and move on than remember and consider what it could mean.

He needed to relax; he couldn't think straight with all these things distracting him, and he sighed and rolled onto his stomach, staring at his flask.

"**You were in my dream…I think. All broken and messy you were, but I didn't mean to smash you again…I'm sorry." **The flask remained still on its pillow, its brown stained cracks looking amber in the soft candlelight, and Pride took it to be a silent acceptance of his apology, whispering a 'thank you' to it. He wished he could ask Father to fix it, just so things might go back to normal, but he knew such a thing was impossible now.

Soon he grew bored, but was still too agitated to sleep, and the restless homunculus replaced the candle at his side and decided to take a stroll through the dark, it would only be for a little while, and if he didn't wake Father there was nothing wrong in it. Pride sucked in a breath and asked his shadows to return to his body, they shivered a little, but huddled close to him, and eventually disappeared into his container. Pride narrowed his eyes; they were never so obedient at night, why would they…? At the thought they continued to bite at him, as if they wanted something from him, or were trying to distract him, but he ignored them, more focused on the strange grooves in the cold stone floor that were making him unbalanced, bits of grey dust collected between his toes, he didn't understand how the room could have become dirty overnight.

It must have been almost an hour since he woke up, a small puddle was forming in the candle holder, and it was starting to burn the tips of his fingers. Pride felt better now, there was nothing to be afraid of here, Father would protect him, and Lust and Greed were just outside the room. The floor wasn't the most comfortable of places, in his old clothes he never used to feel it through his thick robe, but now his arms and legs were bare, and he frequently awoke with marks on them where they'd rubbed against the rough stone, but he'd got used to it after almost a year, and the wide yawn that forced its way out his mouth made him realize he was too tired to care.

The gentle flickering of the candle, and the almost ticklish feeling of his shadows scraping their claws over his insides served as a method to lull him to sleep, but suddenly Father murmured something, and the light returned. Pride opened his heavy eyes, considering if he should pretend to be asleep so Father didn't think he had been misbehaving, or blow out the candle in order to save it for tomorrow, but his gasp caught in his throat as he saw what had made all the ground uneven.

Scratches, all over the floor and the walls and Father's table, five lines in deep angry crevices raked over everything, even around the pillow where his flask sat, in a wide chaotic circle. His shadows shivered to themselves happily, like they were laughing. _He'd _done this; he'd ruined all of Father's room while he was sleeping, how was he supposed to explain that he hadn't meant to, Father had said that everything his shadows did had a relation to something, and that no matter how tiny, a small part of him must have wanted it to happen for his shadows to do it, but he would never want to use his shadows for something like this. He would never…what would Father think?

Pride could only squeeze his eyes shut, and will himself to go to sleep as fast as he could. His shuddering did nothing to help him pretend he was already asleep, and he was sure he felt Father's accusing gaze on his back more than twice. Like they were humouring him, the shadows stilled and let him sleep.

And when he awoke that morning, the violent carvings in the floor were gone, and Father spoke nothing of it.

Pride began to doubt whether the lines between reality and his dreams were as distinct as he first thought. But his shadows always took the greatest delight in his confusion.

0 * 0 * 0

**April 19th 1714**

The dreams had stopped, a little, Father had been well aware of what he'd been doing the night he'd scratched the floor and the walls with his shadows, Pride was sure of that, ever since that day Father had been doing something with his alchemy to ensure he didn't wake during the night. Father considered it helpful, and most of the time it was. But sometimes, when his nightmare was over, he couldn't wake himself, and he would be trapped until the morning, often the dream started again, his shadows more restless and irritated. Other times he was pulled into another dream, and all he saw then was red, and the humans in his Philosopher's stone would scream and wail while he was forced to listen. Eventually some of the more coherent ones would turn their aggression on him, cursing and ridiculing him, saying that they hate him, and that everyone else did, and he was nothing but a demon who deserved to die so they could escape. He knew that the souls of the humans wouldn't really say such things; Father said they weren't aware of who they were anymore, they were just energy now.

Still, in his nightmare he felt his skin crawl with the humans that were used to sustain it, and they pulled and tore until it cracked and fell away, all his shadows spilling out in long frayed ribbons.

It was no wonder he often woke with wet eyes and pink cheeks, his throat was never sore from his crying though, because he wasn't using his real voice, he finally realized that his shadows had their own voice, and he was using theirs while his vocal chords were 'broken', and shadows didn't get sore. Father always gave him a look when he cried, like he was…ashamed of him. He was too old to need comforting; he was almost One-hundred-and-twenty-four.

But it wasn't proper to tell Father about his dreams, and he had far too much trouble describing his dreams in words that he wouldn't be able to anyway, they weren't important, they didn't mean anything, he shouldn't have been thinking about them, he had more important things he should be thinking about.

"Come along, Pride, there is something that I wish you to accomplish with your shadows today, but first…we must practise, to ensure you are prepared." Pride nodded, pushing himself to his feet, he mustn't dwell on _them _anymore. Father led him to the table, motioning towards the objects sitting on top, one of Father's alchemy books, a small candle, and a piece of slate.

Pride understood, letting his shadows pool under his feet, they were in their usual lively mood, eager to act outside of pestering his insides like always. They had yet to form joints on their fingers, and Pride raised both his arms, the shadows following soon after, swaying in front of his chest

"**Two hands, right, Father? Or do you want me to-?"**

"Two will be fine Pride, now, pick up the slate and move it- _gently_- to the other side, though you must move it away from the table first."

"**Of course, right away, Father."** Pride cleared his throat, and flicked his fingers, the shadows rising higher, and he urged them forward, slipping one hand under the slate while clamping the other on the front. A slight twirl of his fingers made the shadow coil around the back of his neck and lay the slate down on the opposite end of the table. He retracted his shadows, and turned to Father, bowing **"I hope that was acceptable to your standards, Father" **Father just murmured a slight approval and folded his arms, he seemed distracted today, like he wasn't interested in Pride using his shadows **"Did I do something that displeases you Father?"**

"Hm? No, no, Pride, you are making fine work, you have developed well in the last year. However, I wish to see how far your shadows can travel from your container. We shall postpone the refining of your precision for now." Pride didn't understand, why did Father want him to throw his shadows to see how long they could reach? Father had always said he needed to be accurate and consistent, but he wasn't one to even think of questioning Father.

Without a word, Pride flung his arms above his head, and the two hands followed obediently, their fingers brushing against his own as they settled in a higher upright position, awaiting another gesture for them to emulate and exaggerate. Maybe he'd let too many out, everything was becoming blurry at the edges, Pride shook his head, and threw his arms out in front of him with all the strength he could muster, and his shadows shot forward without him, after ten feet they slowed, and Pride assumed they'd stop all together and sink back into the floor.

They did _not._

He didn't have time to move, and before he could tell them to stop he was already holding his face, hiding the cut in his right cheek. The shadows had snapped back with twice as much force, and ran themselves into the ground behind him, one cutting too close to his face, far too close.

"Your shadow's fingers are very sharp, Pride, very…dangerous, you must be more cautious about how you use them."Pride hung his head, wiping his cheek and licking away the mess that came away on his fingers, his shadow froze at the taste, but he thought nothing of it.

"**I'm sorry, Father, I shan't be so reckless in the future." **A hand rested on his shoulder

"Worry not, you are still very capable of being of use to me, I believe you are ready to use your shadow's…more subtle abilities in a more complex manner." Father said nothing more, and ushered him away into another room, Pride had never realized it was there before.

A shadow now latched onto his cheek, the first homunculus padded on uneasy feet through to where Father had said his task awaited him. The dull taste of a Philosopher's stone lingered on his tongue, his cut had yet to heal, and he doubted it would with the shadows occupying its immediate surroundings, Pride couldn't hold back a shudder at the feeling of _teeth _grazing his skin.

"**Let it heal by itself, it doesn't need you to '**_**clean' **_**it." **When it didn't comply Pride settled for ripping it off and bringing all his shadows back 'in', and with a sigh his cheek flashed and sealed itself up.

This never would have happened if he had been concentrating, but whenever he started 'daydreaming' fully concentrating had been something that hardly ever occurred. Another consequence of sleeping all night was that, on the days he didn't have a nightmare, he would sometimes 'daydream', forget where he was, think he was back _there _again, he didn't know what caused it, sometimes he would lose himself if he watched his flask for too long, saw the cracks and the shards and what damage they did back then, or if his shadows moved in a certain way, but the connection there was lost to him, he couldn't use his shadows until after that…

Father ushered him into the spare room, it was small, not as small as Lust's room, but still cramped and certainly wouldn't hold Father's table more than five times. It was empty. Except the struggling figure in the centre.

The _human _in the centre of the room, Pride's mouth fell open, and he huddled into himself and tried to walk backwards through the door to distance himself, but Father's hand pressed into his back and eased him closer.

"Now Pride, this human is not cooperating with what I have informed it," the human spat words that Pride didn't understand at them, pulling at the pieces of metal hanging down from the ceiling, tight around his wrists. "using your shadows, you are to…_keep it still_" Father let his lips curve into a grin "you are free to communicate with the human so as to calm it. " Pride barely heard, his eyes still locked on the human, a _human_, he hadn't seen one since…

No, mustn't think about that, must do as Father wishes, Father's will is far more important…

Pride gulped and inched closer, his shaking limbs not going unnoticed by Father.

"**H-Hello there, **_**human.**_**" **His voice became harsher at the end, dropping deeper and turning almost malicious; he didn't mean it to…

Any trust the human may have had for him dissipated at the sound of his voice, passing as anything remotely human was difficult with his shadow's warped and ethereal tone now being his natural voice.

"**Oh, please don't be afraid, Father must need you for something, you should be grateful, Father doesn't like you **_**insects **_**very much." **The human became more agitated as his shadows reemerged behind him in a formless wispy cloud **"You need to calm down, Father doesn't like humans who won't cooperate with his plans" **Pride stretched out his arms and twirled his fingers, his hands constricting around the human's bound arms, he loosened them a little for the sake of being polite. **"You don't talk much, do you, Mister Human? Why? Are you scared?" **The human recoiled, repulsed by his gentle smile, maybe he wasn't smiling properly? At last he spoke out

"Like Hell I'd be scared of a…a _thing_ like you!" Specks of saliva fell on Pride's cheeks, the human's head in line with his own, even though the human was sitting down; Pride almost frowned, but set his shoulders in determination

"**That wasn't very nice, Mister Human, I would think even someone like you**__**would be aware of how to behave as a guest." **The reply was the human spitting in his face. Dozens of words that Pride didn't understand fell from the human's lips, and they wouldn't have bothered him, except the hate and contempt contained in them allowed them to cut at him, making little scratches that left no mark but hurt all the same.

"**Please Mister Human, this is not…" **Pride shielded his face, but his shadows were too obedient, and pulled the human's hands closer to him. The human grabbed at him, heaving him by the shoulders until their heads smashed together, for a moment flashes of light burst behind his eyelids, and he was shook out of his daze to see the human staring him straight in the face

"…and you're nothing but a wolf in sheep's clothing." The human hissed at him, and he felt his breath on his cheeks, he was too close, he could feel the dark hair on the human's top lip brushing against his nose. "You should be ashamed; you wear that child's skin like you are one," Pride felt his hands crawling upwards, closing around his neck, and he feebly slapped at the human's face, his shadows still coiled around his arms, flailing but too entangled to be of any use. Where had Father gone? Why wasn't Father helping him? Father would never let a human kill him. But if Father was so ashamed that he had failed in his task then maybe he deserved to die. "when inside you're just a demon," He couldn't breathe, the human's thumbs pressing into his throat, he was going to choke and he was too weak to do anything about it. Hopeless tears welled up in his eyes and his arms became too heavy to continue struggling, falling limp at his sides, his legs were next, his knees quivering. He didn't want to die, even if it wasn't permanent, he didn't want to be humiliated like that again, not in front of Father. But he knew it was pointless, his shadows were becoming lethargic, uncoiling and losing their shape, everything was going dark…he was… he was…"a demon and a monster!"

A shiver darted up Pride's spine, and he went taut and still, his eyes hazing over and shadows tightening around the human's limbs. The human's hands loosened, and were instead used to distance himself by pushing him away, but he kept his balance, Pride's head lolling as he stumbled backwards.

Pride was _there_ again, that word had elicited another 'daydream', he knew this time, knew that he was in no position to be daydreaming; he needed to 'wake up', _now._

_**All humans…want to hurt…**_

The voice might have been right, humans were cruel and selfish, and almost every one he met had tried to kill him for no other reason than he was a homunculus.

_**Can make…go away…**_

He had no time to worry about those other humans, and for once Pride completely agreed with the voice, the voice which sounded so much like his own

_**But…Need to…Want…**_

Pride nodded, wherever he was, crying out his approval,

"**Fine, fine, do what you will, just make them go away! I need to stop dreaming, I need to make Father proud by…" **The voice giggled, and his shadows appeared around him, with their teeth and eyes shining with delight, and they wrapped around him, folding over his eyes and ears until he wasn't aware if he was still daydreaming or had died and was waiting to wake up. The voice laughed all around him, and whispered happily inside his head

**We can take care of this…Little One…**

…

Pride lifted his head, and stared at the human through his distant eyes, his mouth frozen in a wide smirk

"**That was…unwise, Mister Human.**" The delay between his mouth movements and his voice sounding became shorter, while his shadows continued to coil around the human's arms, fingers digging into his flesh until it ripped straight through. The human's curses and screams made Pride's crazed grin stretch from ear to ear, and his violet eyes to glisten.

"**Oh…does that hurt? But…your hands around my neck…that hurt too…" **The shadows wouldn't stop moving, and Pride himself couldn't hold back the gleeful giggles that were passing his lips and shaking him from head to toe.** "You didn't think about that…did you?" **Something curious caught his eye, something that looked so similar to…but it wasn't, and he dabbed at the human's palm, holding up the drops of red on his hand **"What do you call this, **_**human? **_**It would be**__**sensible**__**to tell the truth now, don't want to get in any more **_**accidents.**_**"**

"It's blood, I'm sure it's a common sight for someone like you- a monst—aargh!" the shadows plowed down inside the human's arms, emerging near his shoulders and constricting him all over again.

"**Oops, there's that word again, you really don't learn, do you Mister Human?"** Pride's giggling distorted into a snigger that reverberated around the room. He smirked and popped the 'blood' into his mouth, almost gasping at the taste, the familiarly of it, and the sudden desire to spill more of it, a sharp spasm running through his shadows, eyes clouding further, but he wiped his finger on his shirt, shaking his head, brushing the feeling aside. **"I wonder, if we can be sure about who is the monster here…I, who tried to be civilized and welcoming, or you, who spat at me, and cursed me, and tried to kill me?" **His laugher died away, eyes hardening, and his mouth setting in an emotionless line. The human tensed, seeing the boy's eyes so old, so focused and bitter, his calmness at what he had done, or what he was about to do, it was far more unnerving than his previous hysterics. Pride tilted his head to the side, bringing his hands close to his chest, tightening his shadows until they began to cut the skin by themselves.

"**I think even an insect like you should know the answer to that." **His voice sounded first now, his mouth silently moving without purpose. Pride flashed a brief smile, and threw his arms out at his sides.

At that moment his eyes cleared, and Pride wondered why his arms were outstretched, or why the human was-

His shadows followed his movements, and _pulled, _andthe human's arms came away in a burst of red and a scream that echoed off the walls. Pride couldn't move, even when the human fell at his feet, his hands still swinging in the air, chains still tight around their wrists.

"**I…I…" **Pride couldn't bring himself to say it, he'd killed a human, he'd been moving during his daydream and he'd ended up doing _this_, Father didn't want this, Father wanted it calm and still, not dead.

"Pride." The homunculus hung his head, and trudged towards the voice

"**I…I…I'm sorry Father, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…I didn't mean…I didn't…" **His legs buckled and he fell into the pond that was the human's blood-_ How did he know what it was…?- _ his shadows curled close to him, a row of teeth grinning in the darkness, they'd come back now, after so long. It opened its mouth, letting the blood seep in, and Pride could taste it on his tongue. **"Stop, don't drink it. Stop that! Go away! Leave me alone!" **Without resistance the shadows returned to his container, as if content for once.

Father sank down to his level, staining his robe red and resting his hand on his head, rubbing it softly

"Do not worry yourself, my child, humans are but simple minded creatures, it matters not if you put one out of its misery by ending its pitiful existence." Pride tried to smile, but it was false, it wasn't right to smile anymore, he'd disobeyed Father, he'd killed a human, and his shadows had been used in a way that wasn't appropriate.

He was crying now, and flinching and sobbing at every _drip _of the human's blood, but Father didn't seem to mind, pulling him to his chest and running his hand through his hair.

"Perhaps we should…cease learning about your shadows for now."

"**Of course…Father."**

0 * 0 * 0

**August 31st 1715**

He still didn't want to believe it, he'd _killed_ someone, even if he didn't mean to, Father's theory on his shadows constantly reminded him that perhaps he _did _mean to, and the quiet whispers of his shadows during the night encouraging him to use them again, for similar uses, implied that he may have enjoyed it, even if just a little.

Once he may have called such a thing absurd, but whenever he thought about it, or the prospect of doing something similar again, his shadows would shudder in excitement and pour out his feet, smiling up at him from the floor, twisting into shapes which they deemed more suitable for causing damage, frowning and grinding their teeth when he told them to go away, but listening to him. Sometimes, when he thought about it, a smile would tug at the corners of his mouth, and he would remember the taste of the blood and his tongue would curl without him realizing, and he would laugh, and wish he could taste it again.

It was justified, in a way, the human had attacked _him, _he was merely defending himself as he should. His container wasn't capable of defending him, if he used his shadows too much inside they would cut through and tear him apart, so, really, this was the only way he could ensure he kept himself safe. Greed and Lust could look after themselves, there was no reason he shouldn't be able to.

The human didn't haunt his dreams, as much as he dwelled on it during the day, he now slept soundly at night, despite the occasional murmurs from his shadows. Pride assumed that to mean that, deep down it didn't matter to him, and his guilt was simply an unwitting front that didn't exist when he slept.

The thing that convinced him however, was Father, Father had been patient, never asking him to use his shadows since that day, and Father never spoke of what he wanted to use the human for. And if Father didn't mind it, then it was ok. A peculiar thought entered his mind; perhaps…perhaps Father wanted him to kill it, if it was dead it certainly would be 'still', and it did help him gain control of his shadows in a short space of time. And…if he was a part of Father, then surely Father might have once enjoyed killing humans too…

With his shadows giggling to themselves inside him, Pride smirked, and hurried over to Father's chair. Father was reading as he often did now, he had thought it better to leave him alone until he had accepted what he'd done. Pride chanced it and forced a cough. Father looked up from his book, closing it but keeping his finger on the page he was reading.

"Hello there, Pride, is something wrong?" Pride smiled and bowed down

"**Father, I am sorry for disturbing you, but I wanted to apologise"**

"You have done nothing to my knowledge, Pride." Pride nodded.

"**That is precisely what I wish to apologise for, I have spent the last year dwelling on a **_**human, **_**something which does not deserve my attention. That is why…" **Shadows were leaking out from his heels, growing in sharp toothy tendrils **"I wish to attempt slaughtering another human, as I believe that, given another opportunity…" **The teeth spread further along, chattering happily at his words **"I would be able prolong the human's suffering to the best of my abilities."**

Father blinked in confusion, setting his book down and reaching towards his shadows. Pride stretched out his hand, his shadow's hand following it, and meeting Father's with the subtlety and gentleness that was once expected of all his actions. Father pressed at his fingers, grinning at the sharpness in their pointed tips.

"I see your shadows have developed further since that day," Father pulled experimentally at the shadow's arm, folding it over and smiling as it returned to its original shape "As you wish, Pride, I shall arrange another human to be brought to us, but do not forget that there is still much left to teach you."

Pride bowed again, and smiled, delighted at Father's forgiveness. He knew what to do this time, and this time he would be fully aware of what he was doing. Then Father would be proud. He'd make sure every human knew how inferior they were right before he ripped them to shreds.

And the shadows inside him shivered again at very idea of spilling more blood.

0 * 0* 0 * 0 * 0

I do believe…it is time to say goodbye to innocent-Pride, I hope I didn't go too far. Like I said before I would've liked to include the other scene, but I'll get over it.

I like to think Pride used to control his shadows using his hands to instruct them where to go sort of. I started assuming this since during episode 52/chapter 92, when Pride is fighting with Alphonse, when he starts to get angry he gestures his hands and the shadows copy him, even though we know he doesn't need to move to control them, so I assumed it to be him falling back into a habit he used to have when he was younger in order to put more power in the shadows or something. I don't know why he does this (but I looked in the manga just in case it was something Brotherhood did to make it look more interesting, but it's in the manga too.) but I just wanted to try and explain it here ^.^ I'm sure this block of explaining could have been summed up much easier than this…

On another note my DeviantART account has been updated with a drawing of a scene I drew of chapter 19, as well as 19 year old Sylvie's character design, so feel free to check those out ^.^

And as always, reviews are always loved~.


	29. The Lost Little One

Just managed to finish this chapter, my leavers ball's coming up soon , but I only have a couple of exams left so I wanted to get it written.

Now, I'll apologise early, this chapter is GIANT, because I moved the scene from last chapter to this chapter the word count took a jump because the scene ended up being so long, I'm so sorry! D:

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-Fan:

Yay, giving you a two-day chapter warning in advance paid off~ 

What can I say, it's a bad habit of mine to portray Pride's evilness in a naïve way so that it comes across as a bit cute, I can't help it 0_0

Oh, that part, I actually had to read about post-traumatic-stress-disorder to see how Pride would be affected by what happened, like the dreams and being overly aware when he woke up. And the flashbacks of course. 

I know, Pride tries to be nice and civilized but inside he wants to kill people, and as he goes along relying on his shadows more it gives them a chance to corrupt him D: 

Naïve Pride is gone forever…sniff…but now I can have fun with his magical gleeful evil via shadow powers…but making him be innocent was fun while it lasted…

Yay, my overly detailed head-canon explained something right-ish, it did really bother me how he started freaking out in that episode, so I just had to make up something to explain it ^^; and you will get homunculi's reactions, that's the scene I had to cut out X)

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Hiromu Arakawa…FMA belongs to her…definitely

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Lost Little One**

**November 2nd 1722**

Lust pretended she didn't count the days since he'd been taken away, excused the little scratches that had appeared in her little wooden table as a rat or some other type of vermin that had nothing better to do but chew the furniture in her room, all three-thousand-six-hundred-and-forty-one of them.

It'd been almost ten years since she'd seen him

She wished she could have said something to him that morning, rather than assuming that he'd be straight back in a matter of hours, only flashing a weak smile and a wave. It didn't matter if she sighed aloud, there was no one to hear her, Greed was out and _they _couldn't hear through the wall, _she _would know.

Lust crossed her legs for what felt like the hundredth time, and turned her attention to the chess set on the table, staring thoughtfully at the pieces (ignoring the absence of the knights, they weren't important, four 'missing' pieces didn't harm anyone), after a moment she faked a grin and carefully picked up the black queen with her nails and placed it in a new position.

"Well, I do believe that's '_Check',_ Miss Lust." She strode over to the other side of the table and sat down, retracting her nails, forcing a pout and raising her voice an octave

"Oh, Lust, you're too good at this game, it's no fun when you play, at least Greed's rubbish at it. Except…" She smirked "If I do _this._" Lust moved the white bishop "I believe that's what you call '_Checkmate'_, right?" She flicked the black king over before she realized how ridiculous she was being. Lust chuckled, and laughed before slapping her hand to her forehead.

"What am I even doing…? I'm going out of my mind here…" She'd considered sneaking out a few times, but she never dared in case Pride was allowed out of 'his' room while she was gone. "I suppose…I can ask Greed for a game when he gets back….he's been gone for a while…" Lust set the pieces back in their places without looking; Chess had been her sole distraction for the past year, after she gave up buying new clothes or figuring out how she was going to convince Father to completely repair Pride's flask, she knew she was getting better at it, but it would be pointless when Pride returned and asked her to play, she would always let him win, no matter what.

There was a creak, the unmistakable groan of the entrance to Father's lair, and Lust didn't need look up to know who it was.

"You're back late Greed, what's taken you so long?"

"A 'welcome back' would be nice once in a while Lust." The younger homunculus was in a jovial mood as usual, despite what he had been sent out to do in the first place.

"You don't get one when you come back eight hours late. I would think catching a human wouldn't be so difficult that it takes you more than ten hours Greed." Lust didn't raise her head, still setting out the chess pieces "So, you want to play with the knights or not?"

"Not where you hide them I don't, not in much of a mood for Chess anyway" She heard him walk closer "'sides, waking up early to catch a human was pretty easy, and after the festival, well…" Lust perked up at that, but kept her chin firmly sat on the table.

"Festival, what festival? There aren't any public holidays in the autumn."

"I know, but it seems something 'amazing' has happened and the whole country needs to celebrate it, didn't care to ask what it was, so I caught a human in the morning, took it to Father, should be waking up soon I think, and spent the whole nine hours celebrating with the _absolutely_ _darling_ folk of the country. Got lots of stuff dead cheap too."

"Lucky you…"

"Oh don't be like that Lust, I got you a present too" With a somehow almost audible smile Greed set Lust's present in the middle of the chess board, and she glanced lazily up at the label.

_Moonshine_

_Finest 1721 Whiskey_

_All the way from Fisk_

"Oh, _wonderful_, you think I'd be one to drown my sorrows at the bottom of the bottle like you?"

"I ain't got no troubles Lust, but you sure do, and it's pretty common knowledge that all '_ladies_ _of_ _the_ _town'_ like getting so…_intoxicated_ they can't see straight." She let Greed's sense of humour bounce off her, their teasing had become common place without Father or Pride to set them straight, Father with his intolerance to bickering, and Pride with his innocence that somehow managed to quell their arguments.

"Pretty low-brow of you Greed, _Moonshine,_ why not just steal some from the Queen's house upstairs? It isn't like she'll find out, that stuff's been there since before you were born." Greed huffed and turned his nose up

"I may be greedy as Hell but I don't steal from people when they aren't at home. And if it bothers you so much I'll have it, just don't expect to see me for a week, it's pretty potent, if I start freaking out lock me in my room, I mean I'll break out but it'll be nice to try." Lust didn't even know how she was supposed to do something like that when none of their rooms even had doors.

"Where did you get it?"

"Some gypsy. Said it'd be 50 cenz, but if I paid an extra 30 cenz he'd give me the fox too, and I couldn't say no to that, the fur's great." Lust nodded, before realizing the absurdity and blinking.

"The what? Why would you want a fox? You know animals don't like us Greed."

"I know they don't, but who said it was alive." Lust raised her head, and stifled her laughter at the ridiculousness of what she saw, perhaps she had accidentally swallowed the Moonshine and this was merely a drunken hallucination.

"Greed…only women wear foxes around their necks…"

"I don't see why I can't wear one, it's really soft, and it completely matches my new jacket" Greed motioned towards the sleeveless black coat he was wearing "covers up my 'spots' too. I think you're just too old, you're getting boring." She only sighed and pushed the moonshine to the other side of the table.

"Just shut up and play chess Greed, it's the only thing interesting that's gonna happen today, you're lucky Father even let you go back outside after you'd brought him that human. Or were you joking?"

"I never lie, Lust. Father said I could 'investigate' what the humans were celebrating, and everyone I asked looked at me like I was a right idiot for not knowing, so I didn't bother to find out. I doubt he actually cares anyway, he just wanted me to leave him alone." Lust wondered sometimes, wondered what Father did with the humans he requested, this was the fourth one they had been asked to bring, her most optimistic thought was that the humans were supposed to help Pride trust them again, so that he would one day be able to return to Central, but why he would need new ones…the answer she wished could be true was that Father hadn't been feeding them, or they died and Father wanted their souls for Pride's Philosopher's stone. But she knew, deep inside, that there was a far more malicious answer, an answer that she prayed no one ever discovered, that could equally be true. "The most I got was this, I don't know if it's even relevant to the actual festival, but they were giving them out to everyone." Greed dug through his pockets and pulled out a folded up piece of cloth, and Lust took it from him with a raised eyebrow

"What's this Greed? It's made of silk." She eyed the green little square curiously, and began to unfold it carefully

"Dunno, the person outside the…what you call it? That square river around the castle, the moat, that's it, the guy outside the moat around the castle was giving them out, shouting something about the royals…didn't make much sense to me but I took one anyway." As Lust opened it completely she 'tsked' a little, and shook her head

"Should've known…" the white blend of a dragon and lion stared back at her silently with its single green gap that served as an eye. She shrugged and tucked it into the only other occupant of the table than the chess set- Pride's November 5th newspaper from all those years ago.

"What was it Lust?"

"I believe…it is the new Amestrian flag, Little Miss _Sylvie _was obsessed with it back in the day, it isn't important. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to put this back in my room for safe-keeping, I suggest you come too so you can hide that Moonshine before Father finds out you've '_smuggled_' it in here." Without another word Lust slipped the newspaper under her arm and walked off, Greed following close behind her, moonshine in hand.

"Why d'you even keep that old thing Lust? Isn't like Pride even remembers it, he barely had it for two minutes."

"It's just in case he does, I would have thought someone like you would appreciate having lots of possessions" Greed only smiled

"Oh? So you're a hoarder as well as a wh-" Greed trailed off at the sight of the glare Lust was shooting him, it was better to leave _that sentence _unfinished.

Through the almost endless corridors that lead to either nowhere or the other homunculi's rooms Greed decided to speak up.

"Y'know Lust, I'm starting to think this whole thing's a little biased."

"What are you talking about now Greed?"

"This whole deal with Pride, I mean Father's our Father too, why does Pride get to be the one Father chooses to spend every moment of every day for the last ten years with? Just 'cos Pride's the eldest? It isn't like Pride even does anything except get himself hurt all the time, if anything Father should be explaining to us what the Hell he's planning so we could actually get somewhere with it." Lust wasn't sure how to respond to that, Greed's disapproval of Father's actions could be considered treason, and Father would never tolerate anything but loyalty from his children, Greed was still young, he didn't know any better, and it was her responsibility as his older sister to set him straight.

"You shouldn't question Father Greed, he-"

"And why shouldn't I? He doesn't care about what happens to us, the only thing he sees us as are slaves to help fetch things for Pride. I don't even know why we even bother listening to him anymore."

"You mustn't think like that, Greed, lest you forget Father still has four of his emotions left, and that includes his _wrath, _he _will _punish you if he hears you talking like this, he might even kill you. We weren't created to understand Father's reasons for everything, only listen to them, I'm sure Father has good reason to be spending so much time with Pride, but Pride's purpose is far different to ours, we deceive and manipulate and destroy, things which I doubt Pride is even capable of, because-"

Lust stopped, something felt wrong, the whole atmosphere in the corridor felt…thicker. She didn't understand, but the quiet squirming sound piqued her curiosity, and she looked up.

And a mass of black, with two bright eyes identical to hers, and the familiar curve of a wide toothy grin stared back.

Just like Pride was, back when he…

"**Found you. It's nice to see you again, Lust." **Pride's voice echoed out from the shadow in the ceiling, its mouth staying firmly shut, but speaking all the same, it unnerved her; it was _nothing _like how Pride used to talk.

"P-Pride?" The smile only curled tighter at the edges

"**Yes, it's been so long hasn't it…but so much has happened, I never thought I'd be able to stretch this far, or see like this."**

"How…how are you…?"

"**Oh…my shadow, the shadows inside me can stretch, and I can see through the eyes, and talk, Father's been helping me, he covered my real eyes up so I didn't have to worry about them, and then I could see through these eyes, and I wanted to see you. Father says I can come out now, so I'll come and find you, so stay here." **The eyes and mouth closed, and the shadows receded, falling onto the floor, no doubt to serve as a path for Pride to follow.

The two younger homunculi looked at each other, before Greed brought the moonshine from behind his back and stared at it

"Did I just drink some of this without meaning to? Cos it just seemed to me like Pride just talked to us through the ceiling, and even to me that's…a bit odd."

After a little while the faint childlike steps that Lust hadn't heard in almost in ten years reached her ears, and she smiled, even if it did sound slightly like he was splashing through something. Before she could react the small feeble form of her older brother had his arms wrapped around her waist, she couldn't see his face, and merely ran her fingers through his hair, ignoring the wet sticky substance in it, it probably hadn't been washed in a while. Lust knelt down to welcome him back properly.

And she screamed.

"Pride…Pride, my goodness what's happened to you…you're covered in-" covered was an understatement, Pride was _drenched, _all his clothes stained a deep red, brown in patches where it had dried, some of it dripping down his shorts and trailing across his knees and over his toes, a small puddle forming around him. Only his face was clean, but the wide grin he was sporting was filthy enough as it was.

"**-Blood? I know, don't worry Lust, it isn't mine." **Pride didn't move his mouth as he spoke, his voice emanating from all around, the shadows were speaking for him** "It's Father's human's, well I can't tell which one's it was but..." **He shrugged with a tangible delight. **"I had lots of fun, Lust, Father was really happy, I pretended I was upset" **Pride giggled to himself at the memory, covering his face and leaving two bloody handprints across his cheeks and eyes. **"And the human came really close because it thought I was hurt, but it was wrong. I made sure to only stabbed it in places I knew weren't that important, I cut **_**very **_**slowly up its arms and legs so I could keep it alive, but it got boring after a while when it stopped screaming and fell asleep." **His smile sagged a bit at the thought that he hadn't made it suffer enough **"So I just cut it in half. But I didn't mind…" **Pride looked at his palm, and licked at the blood, offering the rest to the mouths hovering around in his shadows, petting the top of one and smearing blood all over it, and he giggled again and brushed it into its mouth **"The other humans were fun too… and sometimes…" **He turned to Lust with another malicious smirk, and he cupped her face, leaving identical red marks, turning pink in the places he'd licked. He leaned forward and whispered into her ear, talking properly **"I got to see what they looked like… **_**on the**__**inside.**_**" **After a moment the shadows calmed, and sank back into Pride's body. Pride's expression softened a little, and he smiled a gentler smile, stepping forward to hug her properly, but her arms were stiff, her embrace cold and meaningless. What had happened? What had Father done to Pride to make him like this, someone who had such a lust for blood and indulged in killing humans so viciously simply because he could, and all with a wide gleeful smile plastered to his face? And yet he could still show such care and affection for her after what he had done, as if it was so insignificant he didn't think about it. She had no value for the lives of humans, but this was _Pride. _Pride who was different to them, who didn't understand the world he lived in, who was content in Father's attention and needed nothing else.

_Pride who had slaughtered five humans ten years ago._

She was quick to remind herself that that was an accident.

"**I've missed you, Lust, really I have, I'm sorry I stained your ribbon, I didn't want to take it off in case I lost it…" **He was speaking again now, his mouth moving against her shoulder before any sound reached her.

Sharing a brief and troubled glance with Greed, Lust began to realize how foolish she had been. There was no place for that pure, innocent Pride in Father's plan. Pride was Father's favourite for a reason, and it was because of what Pride was capable of should the situation arise, what he could become if he was forced, if he saw it as something that would please Father.

Pride's purpose was exactly like theirs.

And something told her that it always had been.

"That's ok; I don't mind…_Big Brother._"

0 * 0 * 0

**December 15th 1730**

"…_The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow…"_

A quiet sound, a high and out-of-tune, yet cheerful melody rang out in the cold December air, pattering footsteps accompanying it. The weak winter sun shone through the cloudless clear sky, upon the voice's source.

"…_Not at all like other children, which is always very slow…"_

The little one walked with a spring in his boot clad steps, Mother had promised she'd show him something special today, he couldn't possibly begin to imagine what it was, but she seemed so happy when she so much as mentioned it he couldn't help but be excited as well. The gardens were beautiful in the summer, Mother said, but he wouldn't be able to see them this time, maybe when he came back, he hoped it wouldn't be _too _long, he didn't want to be waiting until he was sixteen…

"…_For he sometimes shoots up taller like the Amestris castle wall…"_

Mother's song continued to spill in happy rhymes from his lips, ever since he could remember she had sang him the song, as she tucked him in bed and told him stories of this place, to finally be here after all this time…it didn't seem real.

"…_And he sometimes gets so tiny that he's hardly there at all…"_

His song came to an abrupt end three verses early, he was spending too long outside, he couldn't dawdle like this, whatever Mother wanted to show him and Father was very important. The little one tightened his grip around his nightgown, and continued on without a word, watching his footprints trail behind him in the snow, it was so frightfully cold here, nothing like home, it was no wonder Father had brought so many clothes for them.

Something caught his eye, a dark blemish in his pure surroundings. It was a woman, a woman in a long black dress, staring at him from her place against the wall. She didn't seem like she was a servant, but her presence alone was so bizarre he felt as though he needed to discover the source of her bemusement, or why she was there in the first place. The woman didn't move an inch as he padded closer, merely looking him up and down when he stopped in front of her, her head tilted in curiosity.

"Hello there, Miss. I was just wondering why you're out here all alone."

"I could easily ask you the same question, what are you doing here? Who knows what _dangerous _people could be lurking around? Why, they could snatch you right up and no one would ever know." He only shook his head with a cheery childish smile

"No, no bad people can get in here; Mother only lets nice people in. I can't stay here for long, I'm going to put my nightgown away."

"Oh, and who would that 'Mother' of yours be? Wait…" She leaned closer, staring into his eyes, as if searching for some silent answer to her question. Her own eyes widened, and she put her hand over her mouth to disguise her gasp "It can't be…" Her lips pursed, and she pulled at his hair, his was far lighter than hers, Father told him his hair was once exactly the same, back when Father was his age. She scoffed and stood back, folding her arms and glancing nonchalantly at her fingernails.

"You have your Mother's eyes." The little one nodded, that was what everyone said, eyes of the deepest blue, like the oceans that existed somewhere in the world, places far from Amestris and Aerugo, but this person didn't look like she was old enough to have even seen Mother.

"You've met Mother?"

"Oh, yes, I'm quite sure I have…only a few times of course" She smirked a little, as if there was something she wasn't telling him

"Really? That's nice, not many people get to meet Mother, not many people get to meet me either…"

"Oh, you poor dear, don't you have any brothers or sisters? But what _delightful _clothes you have, no doubt your Mother chose them…chose what they were to look like."

"No, it's just me…and they're Mother's colours, but Father's design, for 'equality' they say, I don't really understand." The conversation was taking a turn for the worse, and he didn't like it, he needed to be going.

But it wasn't polite to cut a conversation short without hinting that he needed to go somewhere, and he had, but she didn't notice his impatience in the least. He knew that all this silence would soon become awkward and most unbefitting of someone like him.

"Well, there's a first time for everything…" He heard her murmur to herself, but he didn't understand, and he raised his head up to her in confusion.

"What do you mean by th-"

Then there was only a searing pain in his head, and the darkness where his eyes had screwed themselves shut. Flashes of red danced in front of sight, slowly because time had slowed itself to mock him, because it was clear, with the warmth trickling out from his head and the unbearable pain, he was dying. His nightgown slipped through his fingers, and he heard it land with a soft thud. Then he was falling, sliding down whatever was lodged in his skull and tumbling backwards, and the cold of the snow almost felt soothing. He wasn't sure if he opened his eyes, or merely imagined her face and her slight chuckle, and her two spear-like fingernails that were stained with his blood. Whatever it was, he wished he had never seen it, there were far more pleasant things he could be thinking about, but there was nothing he could do to change that now.

"I believe…your clothes will be quite sufficient…Little one."

There was nothing after that.

0 * 0 * 0

**December 16th 1730**

Pride eyed his new clothes, given the time of year they would certainly be appropriate for the season, and they were detailed enough to secure his status, he couldn't help but admit he did like them.

But being in this embarrassing position again made the whole event a little demeaning to say the least.

By now the white shirt with the long sleeves with thin lace cuffs had already covered up his waist, and soon after he was stepping into his loose fitting things that Lust called 'trousers' that tucked into his high black boots and spilled out over them, secured tightly around his waist with a thick black thing Lust called a 'belt'. Another new piece of clothing was a short square shirt of a pale yellow with no arms and shallow pockets- a 'waistcoat', it interested him why he would ever need such a thing, but it didn't feel uncomfortable enough for him to consider it a problem. Eventually Lust produced a long purple coat with golden embroidered ripples and specks decorating its edges, his lace sleeves hung out, but the coat otherwise fit him perfectly, its edge in line with his knees, the coat was left open, it was not 'the thing' to close it.

"Only one thing left now, Big Brother." He was glad it was almost over; all this seemed so extravagant, so intricate that it became ridiculous. Pride looked over himself in the mirror while Lust searched for his final piece of clothing, he did like it, but it took far too much time to actually put them on, he supposed that it didn't matter, if he only had to get undressed every six months or so for a bath, it would be worth the few minutes of discomfort and messing about required to make them perfect. Father had instructed Lust to find him new clothes; the least he could do was wear them.

Pride noted with a grin that he was to receive another accessory for his neck, a golden thing known as a cravat that was made of silk and lace, and she tied it with a gentleness that implied she might have been cautious, afraid even, of something, but that was absurd. He was ready now, and yet something was…missing, somehow, and it wasn't until he opened Lust's new drawers to store his old clothes that he realized what it was.

Sylvie's little golden crown glittered up from the drawer, the strange, un-Sylvie-like purple gem lodged inside it shining.

She wouldn't mind if he wore it, after all, it was all she had left him to remember her.

"Oh, Pride, I forgot about this." The older homunculus nodded, and shoved his clothes into the drawer, while his shadows picked up the crown and moved it onto the table. Lust didn't like his shadows, she could stand them on occasion, but for whatever reason she always requested he not use them often when they were together. As he turned around he saw she was holding a long light purple, almost white shirt, with frilled cuffs and buttons near the top. It looked like it would reach his ankles if he wore it. There was something stitched into it on the left side of where his chest would be, it was his—_Sylvie's _lion-dragon, his failed attempt of an ouroboros long ago, it was hers now, and underneath was something written with golden thread;

_Selim_

The reason she had used his human name escaped him.

"**Why did you not write 'Pride' instead?"**

"Hm? What was that? This is a nightgown, you wear it at…night, when you go to sleep, so your clothes can stay neat while you're sleeping. Do you want to try it? Then again…it took so long to get you dressed. But you do need your hair cutting as well, what do you think?" His plan to keep these clothes on for as long as possible was promptly scrapped, and he just smiled

"**That's fine, Lust, I don't mind getting dressed again."**

It wasn't like they had anything better to do today.

0 * 0 * 0

"Father…there's um, some people here, they wanna talk to you." Greed called down from the stairs, it had begun simple enough, Father had asked Lust to bring Pride new clothes the day before, and now Lust had done so, and was busy changing his clothes.

"Who are they, Greed? How did they discover us?"

"I don't know, they said they need to speak with you…oh, wait, they want me to announce who they are." Greed grinned, rather delighted with the strangeness of the events that were helping to make today much less boring. He cleared his throat

"um…presenting His Royal Highness, Antoine Dimitri Vincent Felix Aerugo, Seventh king of Amestris…and Aerugo too…" Greed quirked an eyebrow, but carried on "and also presenting Her Royal Highness, Sylvie Rosaline Abigail Gwendolyn Euphemia Amestris- wow _six_ names, how posh are you? Oh, I mean, Seventh Queen of Amestris, but only the princess of Aerugo…for some reason." The woman tugged gently at his arm.

"Excuse me; may we please speak to your Father now? It is very nice to meet you, Mister Greed, but we…" she wilted a little, her shoulders sagging "there is something we must attend to." Greed let them pass, and watched as she hurried down the stairs with a grace no one her age should have possessed.

"Welcome, _Queen _of Amestris, how many years has it been?"

"Too many, far too many." Sylvie bowed, and motioned for her husband to do the same. "But, like my Father before me, I seek your assistance, and guidance. You see…" She gulped "It's our son, Selim, we were planning to bring him here to meet you, but yesterday morning he didn't attend breakfast, at first we thought he had overslept, but no one has seen him and we fear he may have wandered down here by mistake. He's only eight years old; he has brown hair and blue eyes." Father pulled at his beard, lying back in his chair.

"You may search for him; Greed will be your escort." Sylvie nodded, that was only fair, they had been away for so long, it was no wonder they weren't trusted. It was just her luck, the only time she could return to Amestris for a few weeks and something awful like this happened. The often comforting arms around her did nothing to calm her, their son had disappeared, she doubted she would ever be able to let him leave her sight again. It was all too much to understand; only twenty days ago she was in Aerugo, telling him of her childhood, the stories she had told him hundreds of times before, of the boy who didn't age, but was over a hundred years old, who could stretch his skin to make himself look taller, with a liking for melons and very little else, and she had sang him the song she had made for her dearest friend, that she had sang for _him _the day she left Amestris to be married. And now he was who knew where, he could be scared or lost or- God forbid- hurt, and she was just standing around not knowing what to do with herself.

Pride was all done now, his nightgown fit well enough, and he had managed to put his new clothes on properly, Lust had helped him keep Sylvie's crown in as well. Now all he had to do was return to Father.

There were _humans_ in Father's room, _humans,_ that didn't make any sense, but the shadows had concocted their own explanation, and he smirked at the possibility, it _had _been eight years, maybe Father was celebrating. He had accepted it as the truth, and let his shadows spill out at his feet, no eyes or teeth, that would come later. The man was clothed in red- Pride appreciated the convenience, his grin widening- a coat much like his own, with a fluffy white cravat, well, that would certainly be different soon enough. His hair was messy, like it hadn't been combed, and he was talking to Father about something, the impudent insect he was. Latched onto his arm was a woman, with faded blonde hair and a purple dress, he couldn't see much of her, and thought nothing of it, it wasn't important. He continued closer, keeping his shadows in line with his 'real' one.

And suddenly the woman had her arms wrapped around him, he'd been so distracted with watching Lust go on without him to Father that he didn't notice her running toward him. She was…crying, her tears falling on his cheeks and soaking into his cravat

"I thought I'd never see you again, I was so worried, Selim. Are you ok?" She pulled back, resting her hands on his shoulders. Pride hadn't the faintest idea what she was talking about, and thought it better to remain silent. "No…you're not …" She held his face, her tears subsiding, and after a moment she seemed to realize, and smiled "Pride…it's you, it's really you, oh it's so good to see you again." He didn't know what to do, flinching as she softly kissed the top of his head "you haven't changed a bit, even after all this time. How have you been?" Pride scowled and pulled away, she had been mistaking him for someone else, and how dare she assume other _humans _would be down here.

"**Who are you? How do you know my name, **_**both **_**of my names?" **The woman's smile faltered, ever so slightly, and she stood up.

"Pride, what's happened to your voice? But I…It's me, Sylvie. Don't you recognize me? I'm Selim's mother, Selim, you've met him, that's why you're wearing his clothes, you've swapped them…that's right, isn't it?" Pride didn't know what to say to that, this woman was nothing like Sylvie, Sylvie was young and had hair the same colour as Father's, this woman's was faded and dirty and in a disheveled state that Sylvie would never have had. Sylvie only wore silver, because she was a girl, this person wore gold, her crown decorated with eight crystals all the way around. The two small blonde curls that hung off the sides of Sylvie's face were gone, short thin pointed strands in their place. Sylvie's dresses were simple and elegant, hers was extravagant in the worst way, with its puffed out shoulders with frills spilling out of the sleeves, and the row of seven gold bows that ran down her front and the way her dress split in two and was held apart by strips of gold and held together with sapphires. But her eyes, past her wrinkles and her running makeup and her blotchy skin, her eyes were the same, that deep blue unlike any other, that reminded him of…something. Her voice too…it was so similar…like back when…

_The funniest thing about him is the way he…_

_I made you a song…Mister Pride; it isn't ready yet though…_

_But this is where we must part ways…_

_See you later…_

Something snapped inside Pride's head, and he grinned, he wasn't willing to accept it, and he didn't, pushing all of his cumbersome emotions down and burying them, hiding them from the world until there was only his pride.

"**You're…_not _Sylvie."**

'Sylvie' looked like she was about to say something else when someone screamed. Pride pushed past her to see. That other human was on his knees, Lust looming over him, her nails in his head. Pride smiled a little, it was nice that Lust got to kill humans once in a while too.

"Fine, now you can be twins instead." Lust threw her hand in the air, her nails breaking through his skull with ease. As they watched the human crumple and mess up the floor with its blood Lust stuttered, explaining her actions immediately "I'm sorry Father, but the human was questioning about his son, and he's the boy I killed yesterday to get Pride's clothes." Father nodded, considering the effects one dead king would do for the country. Sylvie screamed too, dashing towards the king's body, falling over herself before she got to him

"Antoine! I told you to stay away from Lust, you stupid idiot…why didn't you listen to me…and Selim…he…" she was crying again now. Lust just shrugged.

"My, hasn't little Miss Sylvie grown up?" Pride observed with an emotionless curiosity, nothing was making much sense today, and he padded over to Lust's side without a word. Father spoke up

"I suppose, we have had a monarchy in Amestris long enough, and as Sylvie is the only one left…" he turned to Pride with a meaningful glance "Pride, I want you to 'dispose' of her."

"I can do it if Pride doesn't want to, it will be wonderful to finish what I started almost fifty years ago, hope that scar never went away." Lust clicked the fingernails together.

"That will not be required Lust, I have instructed Pride to do so."

The emotions Pride had forced away resurfaced at the prospect, Father wanted him to kill Sylvie, but this human wasn't really Sylvie…she wasn't. Sylvie was only a human, he couldn't let himself be affected by the death of a _human, _that wasn't the way he was to think, she was once a human Father found useful, and now she had outlived that usefulness.

And he would always do as Father wished.

"As you wish, Father." Pride closed his eyes again, and they took on the soulless gleam he had been resorting to more and more often, humans found it oh so unnerving, made him look too old it seemed. With a grin that stretched across his face he strode forward, his sleeves swaying as he went, stopping a few feet away, she was holding her side, Lust must have stabbed her.

"**You're not welcome here anymore, Miss Sylvie, and you were just leaving."** His shadows were becoming restless, and he let them escape and spread around him **"Do you remember, when we used to play with the shadows?" **one reached forward, and brushed against her cheek **"I got better at it, I don't even need a wall, or hands**." The memories were as fresh as ever, and he pretended he didn't remember how he used to be **"You're old now, you got old and I stayed the same, you can't show your age on your hands anymore"** more than two dozen of his shadowed hands rose up, fanning out around him, their five fingers pointed and sharp. Pride raised his container's hands as well **"I still can."**

Sylvie could only watch as her friend continued to mock her, to remind her of everything she had missed out on for all these years, maybe if she'd come back like she promised, maybe he wouldn't have ended up like this, the guilt ate her up inside, and only made her think that perhaps she deserved it. She counted the hands, and Pride's normal hands, twenty-eight; he was one-hundred-and-forty.

It had been thirty-seven years.

The memories were affecting him she was sure, but he had been so used to hiding his emotions now he pretended they didn't exist, and he forced a yawn **"You're…fifty-six, and you've been gone…thirty-seven years, so, just to be nice, I'll only use…" **Pride flexed his real hands, emphasizing the 'ten', and the shadows fell away until only five remained **"seven hands, oh, and one mouth for the 'two'" **He giggled a rambunctious laugh, as if he were 'her' Pride again, and not this corrupt Pride that had formed over her absence. A hand lost its shape and twisted itself into a pointed tendril, and he pressed it teasingly to her forehead **"This is where we must…**_**part ways, **_**Miss Sylvie." **The cruel mimic of her parting words cut into her far more than his shadows would. He must have wanted her to beg, he only prodded until he drew blood, and waited.

"I won't beg, Pride, you will either kill me or you won't." It wasn't like she had anything to live for, they'd already murdered her husband, and her son and given his clothes to Pride, the homunculi were simply going to replace her, they cared little for useless humans, it had been obvious from the start, but she had never realized that until now. Still, she would not die without her pride as a human, and as a Queen, she wouldn't lower herself to the insect they deemed her. Sylvie pulled at the string around her neck, hidden by her necklace, and undid it. "But first, I want to give you this back, it was to remember you, but where I'm going I won't need to will I?"

Pride stared with his old emotionless eyes, but they widened and softened until he was almost hers again, his shadows faded away for a moment. He was taken aback; he hadn't expected this she was sure.

The cork on the string swayed gently, back with its owner for the first time in so long.

"Sylvie…" His voice had reverted to his 'real' one, high and innocent as it was, and for a moment his emotions ran raw, and he couldn't suppress them. But it passed, and he laughed **"You thought…that I wouldn't kill you if you showed me this? Don't be foolish, human; I have long since grown out of my flask, in fact…" **Sylvie shook her head.

"You're still going to kill me, but I won't allow you to call me a thief after you've done so." Pride's flask was broken, cracked and bloodstained; Sylvie didn't want to know whose it was. Pride bit into his lip, cradling his flask to his chest; hard as he tried he couldn't bring himself to smash his flask without forcing himself to. He snatched the cork from her and jammed it into the spout so it broke off, and dropped it, watching as it fell apart. "Did you enjoy that? Or are you trying to delay the inevitable by proving to yourself how 'mature' you've become?"

Pride sneered, shaking his head and bringing his shadow across her face, cutting her cheek open, teeth opened up in the floor to collect the blood that would eventually drip down. But as the blood formed on his tongue his stomach made a noise, and he felt strange, like he wanted to…eat. He didn't need to eat that often, so why would he…but a delightful idea entered his head, and he smirked **"Remember when you were younger, you wanted me to start eating Amestrian food before you died." **His eyes sparkled **"Miss Sylvie…**_**you **_**are Amestrian, so it looks like you've won after all. Congratulations." **She didn't flinch, sitting up straight on the floor, silent tears pouring down her face.

"I suppose, it is time to say goodbye, Mister Pride" He nodded, but didn't reply, letting his five shadows lunge towards her, plunging into her arms and thighs and through her stomach, which pulled sharply to rip up between her ribs and brush against her heart, and she toppled backwards, falling in a heap of purple and gold and red. Pride stepped over his flask, standing at her side, feeling her fade through his shadows, despite her stubborn glare at him, her undone plait scattered around her, becoming thick and matted with her blood, she didn't have long.

"**Do not die yet, if you're rotten you will make my stomach upset, and you wouldn't want that." **She only groaned and turned her head away from him, her eyelids fluttering, she didn't want to see him anymore.Pride removed the shadows from her arms and legs as he opened his shadow's mouth wider, watching her slowly disappear, still feeling her failing heart though the shadow in her chest, he didn't care…he didn't…

The silver ring on her left hand was the last thing to fall into his mouth, besides the blood that followed after.

_Her blood._

Pride winced, and shivered, a sudden chill running through him, something had changed inside him, and he forced his shadows away, walking back to Father.

"**Was that to your liking, Father?"**

"You have done very well, Pride, by consuming humans with your shadows you will also absorb their souls into your Philosopher's stone. Now, I will be assessing how we are to explain the sudden absence of the royal family, you are to stay with Lust until that time." Pride nodded with a bow, and turned on his heels, to where Lust was.

Lust could only stare at her older sibling, at what he'd done, smashing his flask willingly to prove he didn't need it anymore, as if he didn't. He smiled at her, forced as it was, and she smiled too, kneeling down to fix his cravat, he'd kept it clean. She rubbed his back, even when he pulled away, and she just pulled him back and close to her.

"You did great, Pride." She knew he wouldn't return her affection, that wasn't the way he worked anymore, and she whispered into his ear "But I'd wipe your cheeks if I were you, they're a little…wet."

She couldn't bear to let him continue crying without him knowing.

He'd been crying right from the start.

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Ever since the plot bunnies died in that train accident I've been writing the worst things haven't I T-T

Sylvie returns from her bus trip, with her husband and her affectionately-Pride-referenced-named-son! And…oh…um…_yeah_…better to forget about that…

This chapter's so long…I'm sorry everyone, I made you read all that ;-;

Now, next chapter's the interlude chapter so I promise it will be shorter ^_^

The song Sylvie made up is actually a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson called 'My shadow', I saw it in a pride-fic on livejournal and I loved it, even if I'd heard the poem before, if I find it again I'll tell you all what it was called so you can read it, it's awesome~ I did have to change a few of the words though, since it mentions Indian rubber, and in 1730 Amestris there's no India or rubber, they didn't get rubber from trees 'til later

Isn't it horrible that I twisted all the games Pride and Sylvie used to play to be referenced in a bad way here? ;-;

The 'festival' Greed went to was the celebration for Selim being born, since he's eight I thought it lined up nicely with the scene I cut out from last chapter.

I'd say other things but I'll be rambling on forever if I don't stop…


	30. Interlude for the Voices in the Void

A/N: I'm getting rather good at actually writing to a schedule aren't I? It isn't going to last I'm sure, because I'm just that lazy really. ^^;

Anyway, interlude 2 is here, which means this chapter is shorter than 'normal', back to the present we go~ How will Pride be faring now I wonder…

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-Fan:

I'm sorry for wrecking your mind Moofy, I mean, I _did _say she promised she was coming back…I didn't say it'd go well…

Yay, I'm glad you liked how I'd made Greed, I had know idea what to do with him so I had to make him the comic relief who says the most inappropriate things at all times. Plus I got to reference his never lying and never attacking a girl thing, since all the humans Pride killed before Sylvie were men.

I know, he didn't even spend two days in Central before he was killed, I feel really sorry for the royal family, I feel like I need to write a one-shot about their life or something to make up for it. I know what you mean about Sylvie; the only way I managed to get through it was that I had planned to kill her off from the beginning. I know, Pride was so unwilling to accept that Sylvie had come back, and the fact that she had another boy who she could care for who wasn't him it made him really messed up. Aww, I'm sorry again that I wrecked your mind. 

Yay, I was really torn over how I was getting rid of Pride's flask, but I thought him breaking it to try and prove he didn't need it would be best. I'd glad you liked my twisting of the games the played; basically all of them were made for foreshadowing purposes. The worst-best one I thought would be Pride using the fact that Sylvie is Amestrian as a reason he could eating her since she promised he'd eat something Amestrian before she died D: On an unrelated note, when I was planning the chapter I had the cliché 'theme song' thing going on for the first time, for Pride's side of things I listened 'when she loved me' from toy story 2, and for Sylvie I chose 'what if' by Kate Winslet, so I don't know if that actually helped at all ^^;

Oh, thank you, even though the chapter was far to giant for my liking I was looking forward to writing it, but now I get to write much less with this interlude so yay ^_^. Oh yes, it's definitely traumatizing, but it isn't like Pride would ever admit it.

-0

If I owned Fullmetal Alchemist, chances are it wouldn't be called Fullmetal Alchemist.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Thirty: Interlude for the Voices in the Void**

Shoes still upturned and isolated from the foot of the bed, used socks curved around them while their replacements had tumbled from the blanket to join them. All the while the deep contented breaths remained the only disturbance in the otherwise silent room; all the while Pride merely hugged his dressing gown close to him, snuggling into his pillow, wholeheartedly allowing himself to fall deeper into the comforts of sleep.

The thin damp cloth, his mother's method of soothing his fever while she prepared her 'special something' had slid from his head in its disuse, his fever had deteriorated to little more than a slightly raised temperature and an unnoticeable quickness in his breath as he sighed. His thumb had become dislodged a while ago to help him breathe, but he hadn't noticed, his mouth going through the motions without it, a small darkened patch forming around his cheek where his saliva had escaped.

It seemed that, as Pride slept and his mother was preoccupied in caring for him and his 'illness', all was well for once in the Bradley household

It wouldn't last.

And it didn't, a quiet, pitiful whine ringing out from the bed, as something flashed across the sin's mind, something that made him squirm and curl up, and his fingers to claw into his pillow. He forced himself to breathe, pretending even when sleeping that everything was fine, and yet, a forbidden moisture collected beneath his scrunched up eyelids, and dribbled down his cheeks in slow poisonous streaks.

_Tears_, from one who claimed he wasn't even capable of crying, at least, not anymore.

Pride shuddered at their warmth, and brought his hands over his face, cowering away from the truth, coiling up tighter than he ever thought possible. They didn't stop, soaking his sleeves through, the onslaught of his dreams only making him whimper and bite into his lip, and shake his head into his pillow as he tried to push everything away.

Elsewhere, deep inside Pride's skull, his true form was doing the same, albeit doing nothing to hide its misery, its constant wails echoing inside its 'home', tiny hands fisted tightly as it cradled its legs close to its chest, its head thrown back and mouth hanging open. The shadows that supported it just quivered along with its suffering, wrapping around it tenderly, folding over its eyes to keep it asleep, seeping into its mouth while it was distracted. It froze as its sob pulled the shadows in, it knew what that meant, as they crept into its lungs and clogged them until it could hardly breathe, they wanted it to be quiet, and if it stopped now they'd let it breathe, and it wouldn't suffocate or…

The eternal infant calmed itself, and the shadows calmed with it, dispersing slightly within its lungs as they contently moved to and fro with the flow of its now laboured, shallow breaths, if it behaved they wouldn't need to do anything that would hurt it, and then everything would be fine, it needed to stay sleeping, mustn't wake up, it mustn't ever wake up…

It didn't dare move, the only sign it was alive being the futile tears spilling down from the shadows that pressed threateningly into its eyes, or the quiet bleats it desperately tried to quash, despite the awful cause of its distress constantly flickering in its mind, never hesitating to make it remember, remember everything it had tried to forget ever since…

But it wasn't right to even think of such things.

The shadows seemed to sigh, and expanded to coat the infant completely, smothering it beneath their forceful affections, at least until it calmed down and put all this nonsense behind it.

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_Pointless, it was pointless to cry out for help, anything he did now would only make everything that much worse. Even moving would only serve to shorten what few seconds he had left. He could feel it, the darkness, tugging at his skin from the inside , spreading out over his face, pushing its way into his veins until they burst or until it found his soul, found it and tore it out, and then... He wanted to scream, but he wouldn't give it the satisfaction of seeing him in such a state, he didn't want to make this more painful that it already was, make his _death _any more painful than it was going to be. The darkness grinned, flaring inside him and…and he…_

A burst of red lightning crackled through the void, and through the endless cries the only one that had remained silent screamed awake, glancing around as it was pushed this way and that by its 'companions'. It continued to spark and fizz as a different shade of scarlet washed over it, and it compressed into a different shape. A more…_human _shape.

"_oh…dreaming again, you're dreaming too then, aren't you?_" It sighed, focusing until it gained a more stable figure, wisps forming into hands and legs and some semblance of a face. It stared up at the black cloud that kept _him_ away from them, for his sake more than theirs of course "Good afternoon to you too, Pride, but you're sleeping, all of 'you' are sleeping." It was easier to keep a shape when Pride slept, it was the only time he couldn't try and push them away. Rubbing at where its eye would eventually appear its thoughts turned to its dream, most of its dreams were distorted these days, twisted into nothing but lies, hard as it tried it could not remember everything exactly as it used to be all those years ago. It knew though, back when Pride was innocent and carefree, before he inflicted as much pain as possible simply for the joy of it, its death had been peaceful, filled with delusions and a slight bit uncomfortable but… at least until it arrived here. It was confused and naïve back then, but not anymore.

All its features set, and it blinked without reason, hiding the mossy green eyes it had possessed for two-hundred-and-forty-four years now, the only ones in a place like this, the only black hair too, except for _him._ It shifted, pulling its poor excuse for a cloak down below its thighs, one of the sleeves slinking down from its shoulder.

Such a pitiable sight he would be, if anyone here actually cared, and Miles knew no one did, so it didn't matter. He couldn't help but frown, he didn't know why, and just crossed his legs, floating as the souls of the others avoided him, shrieking as they went, occasionally one would brush against him and he would wince, losing his form slightly, glancing curiously as the soul would- for a brief moment- shift into an outline of who it once was, but it would move on and become lost with the others before he could utter a word of comfort or apology. Miles knew almost every face, but not a single name…except… _He_ was the only one who could stay at least partially sane without trying, he assumed long ago it was because he was required to prevent his body from rejecting Pride, that was why he would never be 'used', and would never escape, and never see Luna again until the homunculus met his end. At first he was begged to destroy himself, Pride's container couldn't hold without him, if he were to disappear his body would rot, well, Pride's container had hardly anything of 'him' left, except half of his skull, his lungs, his throat, his tongue and maybe his teeth, but nothing else. Still, Pride needed him, even if he was nothing more than a reference for his container to ensure it remained stable, he would never let a simple creature such as him to be his undoing, even if it was merely a subconscious reaction just like everything else.

Thinking it over he didn't think it was worth waking up today, and Miles closed his eyes, hoping the screams of those around him would allow him, selfish as it was, to be able to forget for a little while. He thought back, musing of when his body actually belonged to him, it felt like it never had, Pride had owned it over twenty-three times longer than him, it might had well had never been his. But as he thought of Luna, of how he cherished those moments they spent together, more than anything, he knew that what little time they had in comparison was worth the suffering. He had realized after fifty years or so that there must have been so much she had kept from him, and it was more than likely that…he was the cause of all the hate she received when they were together. Miles never used to understand why they called him what they did, but he knew better now, she probably wasn't his sister at all, and his parents weren't really his, just hers, from Xing, and scheming and cruel as some of those people could have been- they never called him _that_ _whore's boy_ for nothing. He wasn't ashamed in the slightest, what concept of pride could he have being who he was, being _where_ he was? It wasn't Luna's…wasn't _Mother's_ fault he'd been born, or survived this long.

He promised her he'd be strong, and not cry, and now he couldn't, but at times like this he wished he could, and he just curled himself up and willed himself to sleep. After a while the colour of his skin faded to red, and so did his clothes and his hair and his bleary green eyes, until he lost himself completely in the depth of Pride's Philosopher's stone.

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**16th December 1730**

Miles didn't want to believe it, as worried as he'd been about Pride's stability, he would have never thought he would be capable of such a thing as this, he didn't know how all this had even happened so quickly, it didn't make any sense whatsoever, it wasn't…

He shook his head, what was done was done, and if what Pride's Father had said was true then he'd need to ensure she wasn't delirious when she 'arrived', given what had happened to her there was no telling how she'd react. Miles supposed that if he explained it to her then she wouldn't suffer for as long, and since Pride didn't need her…maybe she would be fortunate and get to leave long before he ever would.

The sound of new souls arriving was familiar enough to him, though Pride's method of acquiring her soul was far different to anything he had done previously, and Miles wondered if that would affect how long it took her to arrive. He didn't know what he was going to say to her, he had been so confused when he died, she would no doubt be the same way, he had had Pride to keep him sane, surely she would need him for the same reason. A brighter hue burst along the void, and a faint groan echoed across it.

"Where am I? Hello?" Miles only frowned and pushed himself along, trying to distinguish the single voice from the hundreds

"Please don't be scared, just…just listen to me, ignore everyone else."

"Pride? Pride you wretched creature you, what have you done, why am I-?"

"Oh? No, Your Highness, you are mistaken, my name is Miles, I am terribly sorry about what has happened to you, Pride has changed a great deal since you left, perhaps one day you will come to forgive him." He could see her now, only slight glimpses through the haze, her plait was undone, and her dress was torn all over, he'd been the same, she'd go back to normal after a while.

"Where are we?"

"Somewhere far from pleasant. I wish we could have avoided this, but…" Sylvie stared down at him accusingly, he must have reminded her so much of Pride "but this is where the people who Pride devours go, that's what Pride's Father said. Though you are the first Pride has done this to, everyone else is here too. Can't you hear them?" It was obvious she could, the way she flinched as they shrieked and feebly turned to wherever she thought they were coming from. "They won't stop. But if you don't try to ignore them you'll drive yourself insane before you know it. " She didn't know what to say, wiping at her eyes as if she could still cry, she looked shorter now, her hair more vibrant, and he watched her fuss over what he'd told her, as she became younger and younger, as she only realized once her wedding ring slipped off her finger and she fell a much shorter distance to catch it. Her clothes reformed themselves around her, and only her seven year old self stood before him, powerless and ashamed, her crown dissolving as it fell from her head.

She collapsed on him, and he saw the holes in her shoulders, and the slash that ran from her stomach up to her neck, and the tear in her side where Lust had stabbed her, they would heal eventually, and he wrapped her dress tighter around her to at least preserve her dignity until they shifted into her appropriate clothes. Sylvie didn't move after that, following the example of the voices, crying out her contempt and her hate for her once dearest friend, he knew she was lying, and just begged her to remain calm, telling her that everything was going to turn out alright until she fell asleep.

That night, Sylvie began to lose her figure, all the colour draining from her, until she was nothing but a crimson outline against him, it was better she get it over with early, his had taken months to fade away, while Pride had been none the wiser, he never did realize that boy he spoke to while he slept for almost a year was really the soul of his container, but of course, his container was from Father and Father alone, not a lowly _human _at any rate. Miles patted at her hair affectionately, it was awful, her being here, but, selfish as it was, not being alone anymore felt nice. He might have considered going to sleep, but he suddenly felt so miserable he couldn't, and he scowled up at the haze high above him, at the sadness emanating from it that only he could feel. Pride, the hypocrite he was, he was…upset, he regretted what he had done, and the guilt was keeping him awake. Miles grinned, and even chuckled a little to himself, glancing down at the sleeping, once Amestrian Queen, reduced to the form of a child, the form by which Pride most fondly remembered her.

"Maybe there is still a glimmer of hope left for Pride, Your Highness."

…

That same sadness was what tore ripped Miles out of his daze for a second time, not his own despair, but Pride's as usual, and Pride was dreaming about Sylvie

"Oh, this is about Miss…_Mrs._ Sylvie, you still feel bad, even after all this time?" It might have been his imagination, but he thought he saw the shadow that held Pride's soul contort and twist itself in its unease, and the slight crack that formed there released another pained sob and sent another shiver of sadness down through him, and he trembled at the coldness of it. He would never understand how he could feel Pride's emotions when they became too strong for him to disguise, he liked to think Pride thought if he burdened them on him they'd go away- evidently not. Through the sorrow he managed to smile, and straightened out his legs, moving elsewhere, _she _always stayed in the same place, and even he didn't want to disturb her, she'd appreciate knowing Pride's current condition at any rate.

He nodded happily to himself, and slowly made his way to wherever she would be, passing under Pride's shadow as he went, not hearing the still shuddering whimpers coming from it, but feeling them and what they meant all the same.

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"Sylvie, are you awake?" Miles frowned a little, poking her gently, her outline becoming visible to him while his blurred at forcing her to take a more human appearance. She yawned, pushing her tiara out of her face, she was old today, as old as when she died, maybe she knew about Pride already and was spiting him with it.

"Oh, hello Pride, have you changed clothes again?" her voice was airy, and frigid, he turned away, he should have expected her to be like this by now.

"No, it's me" She squinted at him, and smiled

"Oh, silly me, of course it's you Selim, what's happened to your new coat? The tailor only finished it yesterday…" Miles shook his head, cupping her face, her hair flaring in streams of gold, her eyes softened, and she sulked to herself, nineteen years old again. "How foolish I am, mistaking you for them…" Sylvie sighed "it goes all strange sometimes Miles, like, like I'm here, but some part of me's still in Aerugo with Antoine. I think all this is getting to me after all these years, it's so horrible in here I can't stand it anymore. I'm just so selfish! I shouldn't even wish for such things, leaving you here all alone…I'm such a wretched little thing, I probably deserve it." There was nothing he could do except sit on her lap and wrap his malnourished arms around her waist "What did we do to deserve this? Does Pride like it in here that much he assumes we would too"

"Pride hates it here. When he was young, when he first heard them, he cried for two days straight, his soul cried for much longer, now he pretends he can't hear anything, but he knows we'll always be here, no matter what." Sylvie laid her shawl around him, it turning a bright purple and silver as it touched his 'skin', the sapphire that held it together sparkling. She smiled down at him, resting her gloved hand on his head, her silver wedding ring- that was on her middle finger to stop it from slipping off- catching in his knotted hair. "He's crying right now, I can feel it, it's about you, he didn't want this… with me he didn't know what he was doing, but with you, he thought he had to…" the misery that was being forced upon him was becoming too much, and he reached for her hand, careful to avoid the scar Lust had given to her over two-hundred years before. He forced a smile.

"It's funny, if Pride hadn't found me that day he would have died, and if I hadn't met him I would have died, but now, it's like we're both alive. I've seen so many things, with Pride using my body I've lived for longer than I ever could have normally." Sylvie couldn't understand his optimism at all.

"But is that worth suffering for all these years, Miles? What can be worth having your body used as a marionette constantly, and being confined here until the day Pride breathes his last?" He smirked boyishly at her.

"I'd have never met you, someone like me, an urchin, meeting a princess, a _queen_ like you, Sylvie? Some things really are impossible. But because of this I got to meet you. I remember, when I was alive, and so very small, I was told that we had a new princess, and I thought about how wonderful life would have been for someone who lived as royalty. That makes it all worthwhile, really, that I can exist without being ignorant and naïve like I used to be." His smile only grew, and his soul shone in its merriment, his hair swaying in a non-existent breeze, his face glowing with a delighted blush, and for a moment he almost seemed alive again. She seemed to understand now, leaning down to plant a kiss on his forehead, as if treating him like the child she knew he wasn't.

"You're too kind, but if we as a monarchy could allow such poverty to exist, then we probably weren't very responsible at all, I'd be surprised if we were ever liked by anyone in Amestris."

"But you meant well, at least you can say you tried."

"I suppose…" Miles yawned, his eyelids drooping, and he curled up in her lap, leaning against her undone hair, how 'poofy' it was…it reminded him of before, but that was selfish…to think like that…

Sylvie just weaved her fingers through his hair, smoothing it down only to fluff it up again, while he just giggled and sighed as he drifted off…it reminded her of…but how selfish that would be…he was older than her…but so was…

The minutes passed in silence, until both of the souls were leaning contently against each other, their hands intertwined as they slept, both accepting their fates without a murmur, smiling, delighted with the fact that they would never be alone if they had each other, and they would, until the day they would be free to see those who had gone on ahead. That much was certain.

As Pride continued to whine in his depression, their peaceful expressions where the last things to disappear in the void.

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Now I managed to explain (from one slip when I was talking to Moofy) why Luna was fully Xingese and why Miles was only half.

Poor Sylvie, all those years in Pride's Philosopher's stone haven't had the best effect on her…

Reviews are still much appreciated


	31. The Sincerest form of Flattery

I'm sorry for taking so long with this, I'm not at school now and I always end up being lazy when I'm off school ;-;

Moofy-Fan:

Aww, that's ok if you get too attached, I kinda got too attached to Jack since he was supposed to die ^.^

I know, it must be horrible for them, but like you said, they do have each other, did they ever meet Kimblee, of course they did ^.^ I wish I could write about it but, timeline problems, maybe one day ^_^ I was worried about whether to actually make Luna his mum in case people thought it was cliché, but I thought that if he was half and she was fully Xingese I had no choice. I wanted Miles to be connected to Pride somehow, since Pride still has parts of Miles body inside his container, not to mention – headcanon wise- I'd assume Pride's container would dissolve is Miles wasn't there for 'reference' about its shape and appearance. I always love making Pride vulnerable, I like to think he does feel guilty about killing his first friend ever out of something that was probably secretly jealousy.

Muddy-wolf: Replied already.

Anyway, I won't hold you up anymore, so I'll just leave you with the chapter ^_^ …what do you mean I'm too lazy to write an author's note.

Hiromu Arakawa, owns these characters, I just make up stuff relating to them.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Thirty-One: The Sincerest form of Flattery**

It was far too obvious by now, of course he would be much too proud to accept her offer, even if she knew how curious he was about it, in the old days he had loved to sit at the edge of her bed while she got him changed, enjoying the soft silk covering she had had imported from Xing by one of her _friends _in Central. Not anymore, now he was content in stating the floor was fine in his now rather commonplace arrogant way, she really shouldn't have expected any different, he had spent almost all of his life sleeping on stone, a bed was, in his eyes at least, something that was inferior, sleeping on the floor was uncomfortable, so sleeping peacefully there meant he was more adaptable and superior- that was how she imagined Pride's twisted mind worked these days.

Lust had been sleeping, becoming tired of thinking over Father's plans for tomorrow, of how they were going to force Amestris through the 'tragedy' of losing their royal family, it wasn't her place to tell Pride what role he was to play, he needn't find out yet.

And yet, that sleep had been disturbed by a single gasp that ended in a stifled whimper, and Lust peered over the edge of her bed, at the pale little curled up ball in the middle of the floor, the Prince's nightgown fitting him perfectly, the sleeves flopped over his head as he huddled tighter into himself with another barely contained whine. Lust had been anticipating the guilt for a while, she had seen it, the way he had hesitated, the way his voice had slipped back into his innocent tone without him meaning it to, the way he hadn't stopped crying since the moment he first caught sight of his 'beloved' princess that morning. This new Pride pretended like he didn't care, and was as callous and sadistic as he wished, while what remained of the old Pride cried and cried and cried through it all. The cause of his anguish was obvious, and Pride thought Lust couldn't see it at all. Even if he pretended, he was well aware that this time when he awoke there would be no flask to help soothe him, and then what would he do?

But her orders where not to let him suffer, while he was staying in her room she was to take care of him, as if he would let her do that, the only reason he let her dress him was because he couldn't do it himself. Still, Pride would never admit something that could be considered weakness to Father, but that didn't matter, whether she helped him or not no one would know otherwise- but _she _would, and without a word she slipped out of her bed and knelt down at his side.

The candlelight flickered over him from the table, and if she asked she was sure he would say that the light was too bright for him to sleep and that was why he had covered his face with his sleeves, of course he wasn't wiping stray _tears _away, his eyes were just irritated today and kept leaking by themselves. Lust hated seeing him shiver in his thin nightgown, alone and depressed and freezing while she slept in a bed with a mattress and a cover. She smoothed her hand over his head, pulling his fringe back and pushing his hands away so she could see his face. His cheeks sparkled with the two fresh streaks of his tears; his bottom lip trapped between his teeth as he weakly shook his head and tried to breathe softly through his nose, as if he could even breathe through his nose normally when he was awake.

"Shh," Lust whispered, rubbing her fingers over his cheeks, brushing the tiny drops from his eyes "it's alright Pride, now, now calm down." When he only squealed out something unintelligible she plucked him up from the floor, tousling his hair with the kind of gentle, motherly affection that wasn't appropriate for someone like her. She drew the sheet back, and laid him on the mattress, folding the quilt up under his neck. Pride still whined, his eyes streaming and darting about under their lids, clawing at the pillow, and Lust just watched as his misery only continued to grow, until he kicked his cover away and his shadows burst from beneath him in long, jagged, quivering strands that clung to the ceiling. At the sudden rush he shuddered and curled himself up tighter, his breath coming in short little gasps as if he would faint at any moment, if he wasn't asleep already. He clamped his mouth shut, holding his breath, and then his eyes shot open and he melted into her pillow, blinking out a few more tears.

Pride stared down at her, eyes boring into hers as she knelt on the floor; the shadows sagged, becoming dislodged and falling around him, wrapping around him and giving him a comforting squeeze as silent sobs wracked his pale, almost sickly looking container. He didn't say a word, burrowing his head in her pillow, rolling over to face the wall. His shadows covered him further, folding over him until he couldn't move, so he could pretend he was asleep. But Lust knew he never went to sleep, that he never had a single peaceful moment that night, only able to lie there and feel the tears spill out and trickle down his face against his will, while the guilt he wasn't supposed to feel tore through him. Lust didn't sleep either, coiling up in Pride's place on the floor, maybe it was because she still cared about him more than anything, maybe it was because she was going a bit soft in her old age, or maybe it was just this room today that had such a horrible effect on everyone in it.

Because she couldn't stop crying either.

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**December 17****th**** 1730**

He wasn't asleep, he hadn't been asleep all night, so he heard her yawn and stretch as she awoke, she hadn't slept much either, but at least she had had some sleep, an hour or two. Pride shuffled closer to the wall, slowly peeling the shadows away from him, letting them seep back into his container, with no quilt they'd been keeping him warm, but now they were so cold…Pride shivered, bringing his knees up and pulling his nightgown over them, blinking hard to himself, more of those wretched drops of water being forced out from his eyes. He didn't wipe at them, just waiting had dried them fine, it would again, and all his skin had dried out with them, and it tugged and stung when he yawned or mouthed something under his breath. She was awake now, and she rubbed at his back gently

"Good morning, Pride, did you sleep well?" He kept his mouth firmly shut, and pushed himself up, turning to face her

"**You **_**know **_**I didn't, Lust." **Pride's metallic voice ended in a quiet hiss as he scowled and rubbed his dry chapped face free of his quickly cooling tears. She winced, but sighed and nodded

"O-Of course, I hope you will sleep better…tomorrow, Big Brother." He didn't reply, throwing his legs over the edge of her bed "What happened to your face, it's all…" her cold fingers on his cheeks made him flinch and push her away. Lust didn't say anything after that, unbuttoning his nightgown without a word, and dressing him and combing his hair, like nothing needed to be said.

But he still felt the infrequent warm drops of water falling on his neck as she did all those things. But he didn't mind it, if she didn't want to be upset she shouldn't ask him stupid questions.

Later, Pride stood before Father, bowing respectfully as he was supposed to, awaiting his orders with all the patience that was expected of him. Greed and Lust kept their distance, glancing at each other from time to time.

"As you are aware, Pride, Amestris no longer has a monarchy to help sustain it." More tears trickled over his fat, flaking cheeks, but he didn't notice, it wasn't like he was crying.

"**Will this hinder your plans, Father?" **

"It will not be an issue to us; Greed and Lust have already been informing the humans of what has become of their king and queen. They have been told that a small fire has tragically caused the king and queen's deaths, and that only the missing prince remains alive, Greed initiated this fire yesterday afternoon in order to prove this. Lust has informed them that we are currently searching for the surviving prince." Pride nodded with another bow "Pride, you will impersonate the Amestrian prince, no doubt the humans will want you to be crowned king as soon as possible, and following that you are to…" Pride listened with a sort of curiosity as Father spoke, and soon after, at the mention of a particular something his eyes widened and shone with a morbid sparkle, it was…it was so horrible…but… but he…

He was distracted by the sound of Lust dragging something into the room, and he stole a glance at it without Father's permission. Father ushered him to inspect it, and Pride turned on his heels, his boots clacking as he went.

Pride tilted his head with a sneer, and he crouched down beside the body of the once Amestrian prince. He wasn't like him, not in the slightest, not as pale, hair not as dark. The mark of Lust's handiwork stood out in the centre of his forehead, his mouth still hanging open in shock, Lust never gave them much time to think, if she wanted them to suffer she'd make them suffer before that. Pride could only grimace in disgust at his shameful state, wearing only thick underwear around his hips, but someone like him clearly didn't deserve such fine clothes. "Father fixed the king yesterday, then we put him upstairs in the room we started the fire in…Sylvie's body was too burnt, nothing left _of course_." It didn't really seem like this was Sylvie's son at all, he didn't look like her very much, it wasn't like Pride knew how children were made, but he had assumed he'd have his mother's hair at the very least, it was…strange, that this was the one that had stolen away her attention, the one who had kept her in Aerugo for so long, the one who made sure she never came back, the one… Pride screwed his eyes shut and shook his head until his neck made a quiet objection in a slight _crack _sound. He saw it then, Sylvie's eyes, lodged in _that boy's _skull, the one who had stolen his human name, who Sylvie loved _ever so much_, maybe even more than she loved—Pride caught himself, dismissing the thought entirely. His dark eyes were dull and glazed with death, maybe Sylvie's would have looked like that if he hadn't…

Pride thought it better to stop considering pointless things, and he returned to Father without a backward glance.

"If you succeed in what I have instructed you, I believe that the severed connection between your shadows and your container will be reestablished." Pride didn't even remember what it was like to not feel his shadows shifting around inside his container, but he would do as Father wished, no matter what consequences followed it. The shadows seemed content with what he had been instructed; they were always delighted with the prospect of spilling blood…even if… "Do you believe you will be able to suitably imitate the Amestrian prince, Pride?" He only smirked as the shadows flared and coiled up in his chest, bowing down for a third time

"**I will always do as you wish to the best of my abilities, Father."**

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He couldn't risk talking, if he so much as said a single word incorrectly, or in the wrong tone he would be discovered, he had never heard the prince's voice, and he doubted he could imitate it with his shadows' voice at any rate, and Pride just slouched and stared at the ground, shaking his head forlornly, he had to pretend he was upset, that was what the tears were for…of course.

"Do you not desire the coronation to be held so soon after your parents'…?" At the mention Pride sniffed and shook his head again, wrapping his arms around himself, forcing a shudder as if he were sobbing quietly. "I understand, Your Highness, but even if we are to postpone the coronation until a more appropriate time, you must still make a public appearance to show that you have survived yesterday's awful tragedy, at the very latest this afternoon." Pride nodded, and waved him off, padding off elsewhere, but he heard him follow obediently behind "Oh, Your Highness, where are you going?" He slowed, looking around, trying to communicate without words, and he pointed to a window, looking up at the prince's servant with his sad streaming eyes "Your Highness wishes to go outside? By all means, I shall escort you." Pride blinked a couple of times, before nodding and continuing on his way.

Ten minutes later Pride was in the royal gardens that existed inside the castle, it was nothing like he remembered it, all those years ago when he strolled through them with Sylvie the day before she went away, now the flowers were all shriveled and dead, and when he knelt down and pushed the withered, snow covered branches aside, he found a torn, disheveled little petal poking out from the soil, and as he scooped it up carefully he could imagine what it might have once looked like- purple with a white trim around the edges, now grey and ripped beyond repair, but flowers couldn't repair themselves anyway. Holding the dead flower close he returned to hi—the prince's servant, holding it up to him.

"Oh, I believe that is a lilac, Your Highness, though given its condition I cannot be certain, perhaps it is instead a hyacinth." Sylvie had told him the names of many plants that day so long ago, but he didn't remember any of them anymore, but they weren't important…why should he need to remember them…?

"We should be going soon, if you will follow me I shall lead you to the balcony, you need not speak to your subjects if you do not wish it." Pride only nodded and trudged along, following more than ten steps behind, letting the lilac slip through his fingers and fall into the snow, but he tensed as a peculiar ache started in his head and he picked it back up, hurrying after the human with the heavy footsteps that contained all the underlying sadness and anguish that he was expected of one such as the Amestrian prince, perhaps a bit _too_ genuine considering it was all an act...

…

It was awful, the way they'd stared at him as he stood on the balcony over looking the moat and the people of the town of Central, wanting him to say something, when it was obvious someone in his position wouldn't want to talk, his own choice about it being better to remain silent playing no part in it whatsoever. Mister servant had been brief enough about it all, telling them in bits and pieces of what had happened to him, and how he was _officially _king now, and would have his coronation at a later date, and that he was mourning until further notice, even if it wasn't appropriate for a child to mourn, so he didn't need to wear black, he could behave almost 'normal' for the time being.

Pride sighed, wandering around Seli—_the prince's _room, digging through whatever belongings he had brought with him when he came to Amestris, they had never planned to stay here, but maybe if Selim had still been alive he would have been forced to- but it didn't matter, this act was only temporary, it would be over soon.

The small black-haired homunculus dragged his feet as he ambled over to the metal chest in the corner of the room, unlatching it and lifting the lid. He pulled out the things of little interest from the top, throwing the long red winter coat with gold along the shoulders - how similar to his Father's, books on the history of Amestris and a small wooden thing with strings that Pride remembered from Sylvie's orchestra, engraved with intricate patterns, some semblance of a bird and the now made up animal Sylvie made as the symbol of Amestris, Selim's name, and a date- November 1st 1730, were carved at the bottom- the date it had been finished he assumed, if it had been made before he arrived here. Pride lifted a similarly coloured stick from the chest, long strands of a white running along it; a quiet little grin graced his face, quiet so as to not break his skin any further, and he imitated the pose of those few in the orchestra.

The instrument shrieked with a high shrill cry, and Pride winced and 'tsked' in disdain, flinging it behind him, hearing it break as is smashed against the wall. He didn't turn around to see how much damage had been done, and he simply snapped the stick in two and lowered it back into the chest. What mild interest he had in the whole thing was beginning to wane, and he peered into the chest for what he supposed would be his final time, but something caught his eye, and he stood up so as to lean over and reach it.

It was a knife, but one made of a particularly shiny metal, with a golden handle adorned with the familiar sign of Amestris on one side and the rather boring sign or Aerugo on the other. More of the same intricate patterns ran along the thing that Pride supposed helped people carry it around, and pulling it out he saw the three streams of gleaming stones running down the blade's edge- rubies on the right, sapphires on the left, and four smaller purple gems that might have been called amethysts down the middle. The utter convenience of it all made him smirk, to think it would be this simple to—

"Is something the matter, Your Highness?" Mister servant must have heard him break that- whatever it was, and he heard him opening the door behind him. Pride slipped the knife back into its holder and pushed it into his coat pocket, turning around with a weak smile, shaking his head. "Oh, very well, please do not hesitate to ask if you desire something- anything." Pride inched closer, eyes flitting left and right nervously, he didn't know how to show what he wanted, he didn't know where _that _room was, but if he spoke he could ruin everything. Knowing he had no other choice, the homunculus bowed his head and whispered his request

"**Please could you draw a bath? Very warm water." **and he cursed himself as his voice came out more distorted than usual. Mister servant staggered back at the inhuman sound of his tone, but recovered soon after, and smiled, the prince wasn't well, he should have expected him to be behaving rather… oddly.

"As you wish, Your Highness, right this way." Pride stood up straight, and happily followed the human to the place where he would be allowed to drop this act, smiling until his skin cracked up over his cheeks and across his nose, disrupting the path of his still flowing tears that he barely felt anymore.

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"I trust the water will be suitable, Your Highness." Pride ran his finger over the water, watching the steam hover over it and fill the room with a warm haze, and he forced a giggle as he nodded. A moment passed, and Pride recalled the second part of Father's plan, and tugged at Mister servant's sleeve "Is something wrong?" he sighed a little at knowing he would need to risk everything so close to the end.

"**I want you to…collect all the servants, everyone in the castle, and wait in one room until I return" **Mister Servant only bowed, and set his towel on the floor, closing the door behind him. The silence was golden, and Pride relaxed, letting the shadows seep out from under him, coiling up around the legs of the bath and let them splay and scatter over the white marble floor- it wouldn't be nearly as clean soon enough, at the thought he shivered, he told himself it was excitement, and not nervousness, the shadows were certainly excited, crawling up around his legs, he waved them away, pulling at his sleeves and easing his coat down. Pride contemplated it longer than he knew was reasonable, and felt the blush washing over his cheeks as he considered what an… embarrassing state he'd be found in, he reconsidered it, shrugging the coat back onto his shoulders and climbing into the bathtub.

Mister Servant- human though he was, had been true to his word, the water was tepid, and it soaked through into his clothes and made them cling to him, warming him from head to toe, Pride knew that eventually his clothes would begin to rub against his skin and become particularly uncomfortable, but that wouldn't happen, his role would be over long before that happened.

Pride smirked at his distorted reflection in the knife, tilting it and giggling at the ways the light was reflected through it. His moment of glee ended abruptly, and Pride felt all the weight of what he was about to do begin to swell in his stomach, and the cold touch of the blade against his throat when he pulled his cravat down made him tremble, he wasn't afraid, why would he be afraid? Father had told him this was the best place, it would be over quickly if he did it here, but his hand wouldn't move an inch, and as he tried to press it further into his neck it slipped out his fingers, sinking down onto his lap. He was wasting too much time, the water no longer steaming, and Pride was at all loss as for what he could do, just because he couldn't bring himself to—no, simply because the knife didn't deserve to be the object that would…

Considering a more fitting alternative, Pride forced his shadows to spill out from the bath like the water contained in it, and pulled his sleeves up over his elbows, sucking in a breath as the desired two pointed tendrils of his shadows rested against the curves of his arms, digging in teasingly, as if they didn't realize what he was about to force them to do. He couldn't help but close his eyes, not in fear but… anticipation.

Pride didn't mean to thrash about, kicking his legs and overflowing the water out onto the floor, didn't mean to scream and then bite his tongue until it too bled, or for his shadows to dissolve as the pain reached them, he didn't mean any of it. His Philosopher's stone seemed so loud now, pounding in his ears, all of the blood Father had filled his container with pouring out as the pulse sounded, a little more each time, becoming faster and more forceful. Father said that the blood that he had placed inside his container when it was being made to keep him warm had become clogged inside it, preventing him from reconnecting with it after… but if he had it all replaced, and then let it all drain out, he would be able to. He hadn't expected it to hurt, and he threw his arms down into the water, he almost sighed as the pain dissipated, and the sight of the blood slowly billowing out in scarlet clouds helped soothe him, but maybe it was starting already, his breath coming faster than before, his head lolling back against the edge of the bath. Lust would be doing her part soon, but he wouldn't be awake to see her, it didn't matter anyway, all she had to do was kill everyone and set the castle on fire, unless Greed was going to help too. Suddenly a loud _creak _reached him and he weakly raised his head, it felt so heavy now…he hardly had the energy to…

"I'm sorry for disturbing you but…Your Highness, what are doing? Surely you haven't-" Mister Servant stared at him from the door, his mouth agape. Pride knew he couldn't pretend everything was fine at this point, and he forced his shadows out towards him without a second thought

"**Why are you here? I told you to—ughh…" **Pride's vision blurred until he could hardly see, and he lurched forward, latching onto the sides of the bath. He couldn't help but scowl, he was so close, he couldn't…he _wouldn't _let everything be ruined like this.

"Go** away…**stop **in**ter**fering!**" Pride's voice came out hoarse, and weak, and high pitched in places, just like it used to be, but he didn't notice, his sole focus being to mutilate the human who was going to ruin everything, and he hastily threw his shadows- distorted and broken as they were, at poor unsuspecting Mister Servant, messily cutting off his head despite his best intentions to stab him instead, but he couldn't care less about his accuracy at the moment.

Wisps of what looked like fog swirled in front of him, and Pride realized that he was imagining it, the thud as Mister Servant's body belatedly followed its head felt distant, and it barely registered as a sound at all. Pride knew he was beaming for no reason other than the lightheadedness was clouding his thoughts, and in an effort to gather them he dragged his shadows back into the bath. He felt himself slide down with a sigh, until he felt his constant tears being washed away, and he could only see a dark shade of pink, he had the sense to not breathe after that. The water was becoming lukewarm, and a sharp stinging disrupted his weary daze, the blood flowing out through his arms were nothing but trickles now, still in time with the rapidly increasing beats of his 'heart', it wouldn't work as well with cold water, it would _hurt. _

He didn't know what to do, not daring to breathe, only able to gaze forward; his head slumped on his shoulder, feeling his lungs beginning to burn inside his chest, and he breathed out, almost smiling at the bubbles that escaped his mouth and floated up past him, sparkling in a faint shade of red as the light shone through them, trails of blood intertwining with them. Pride grinned dopily, emitting a silent, delirious little chuckle that lead to a gasp, bringing the water cascading down his throat, and he gagged, but hadn't the strength to push himself up high enough to breathe. Yet, it didn't seem so bad, water wasn't like air, it was much harder to breathe, it weighed heavy in his lungs, but he felt content- somehow- in watching the darkness creep in around him, until he couldn't feel the cold of the water, or anything else for that matter.

Pride took one last look, at the flashes of silver rippling along his vision like water, but he knew it wasn't real, and closed his eyes, calm as the patterns danced under his eyelids, vibrant and gleaming. He took a final gasp of water, the patterns fading away as it splashed inside his chest, and he faded away with it, a half formed smile clinging to his face.

Soon after, smoke rolled in from the open door, screams echoing along with it as Lust obediently played her part to perfection, dragging the corpse of the _real _prince along with her as she did so. Of course Pride didn't hear it, his human's heart beating feebly now, no strength left to sustain it any longer, and with a final quiver, it stopped, dissolving into dust. The shadows stirred, collecting in a tight ball in its place, before dispersing, filling every crevice of Pride's container, sewing themselves along the underside of his skin, forcing their way into now empty veins and arteries, staining them black, tightening around his human's vocal chords, squeezing and pulling to gauge the required pitch they had once been accustomed to. Less than two minutes later it was done, and the shadows stilled, falling silent, holding their positions for whenever Pride would require them once he awoke.

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**December 18****th**** 1730**

He remembered Lust hovering over him, and him retching, but then everything was calm and peaceful again. Pride rolled onto his stomach, not ready to wake up yet, feeling the cold stone of the floor against his arms and legs … arms and legs, then he was…

Pride groaned, pushing himself onto his knees, rubbing his eyes, they were dry now, he hadn't been…his _eyes_ hadn't been leaking, they'd stopped, finally. His fingers brushed against something as he lowered his hand- a long blue ribbon, _why was he—_

He looked down, grey shirt, greyer shorts, Lust had made him wear his old clothes again, Pride supposed they'd still be drying, and he didn't really mind his old clothes, there was nothing wrong with…going back to these.

It was too quiet, and Pride stood up, but gasped at the stillness of it all, his shadows did not stir inside him as he had become used to after so long, the distinct out-of-sync nature of his container that he had grown to expect was absent, and he felt so…odd, the lack of a constant unease, or the fleeting sensations of teeth and the soft raking of claws under his skin, it was just…gone.

Father had been right, of course he had been, why should he have thought any different?

"It's so…" Pride hands clamped over his mouth, what was that? His old voice, his _real _voice? But it wasn't his real voice anymore, was it? He sighed, feeling no comfort in the high pitched tone "…strange."

Everything was wrong. It was as if Lust had tried to force things to go back to the way they were before, but she couldn't have been so stupid as to not realize that such a thing was impossible. Pride shook his head, walking over to Father's table, Father might have been dozing, or reading, a faint white glow illuminating the room. Atop the table his eye caught sight of something, and his eyes widened.

It couldn't be.

And yet…there it was, its glass smooth and clear and complete again, spouts poking out at identical angles, corks clean and filled with round shallow holes, just as it was all those years ago….Lust must have…

But as he reached the table's edge and stared he saw it, the dark red tint in the glass, infused with his blood, and _her _blood, saw the tiny cracks scattered over it, engraved in little lines of pink and white. How could he have not noticed it before?

Pride scowled, scoffing in disgust, and shoved it off the table, not flinching as it smashed, not even giving it a glance, the sound no longer reaching his ears, merely turning on his heels to return to Father, shadows hanging out his feet, not because of his emotions but purely because he _wished _them to.

Things could _never_ go back to the way they were before.

The clear shards of Pride's flask shone sadly, the pieces rocking gently over the cold stone floor, settling soon after, Lust had begged Father, begged and begged and begged as she forced the water from Pride's lungs…and it was all for naught, because Pride chose not to believe that it could be repaired so easily, Pride didn't need a flask anymore because he said so, and that was that, and he would break it another thousand times over without hesitation…

And from behind his book, Father was smirking.

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Aww, Lust wants everything to be how it used to be, but Pride's just too corrupted now ;-;

They gave Selim such a bad reputation, saying he couldn't handle the death of his parents and suicideed (intentional) T_T

This chapters such a downer…again ;-; Pride feels so guilty but he can't admit it, and he even breaks his flask again because he can't help but see the blood inside it even when it's shiny and new ):

As a random note, in floriography, using the symbolism of flowers, white lilacs presented youthful innocence and purity, while purple ones represented the first feelings of love, I wanted to use a white one but I thought Pride wouldn't be able to notice in it the snow ^^; purple hyacinths represent sorrow, and were used when asking for forgiveness.

Oh, by the way, I am currently writing a one-shot based on the lives of Sylvie, Antoine and Selim, I'll be posting it on my Deviantart and I'll tell you all when I've done it ^_^ I still feel really bad that I killed them off, I need to give them more character ;-;

Reviews welcome~


	32. Fractured Windows

A/N: My, has it been over two months already _ I'm so sorry everyone, I kinda went on holiday, college is destroying me with all the work I need to do, and now I'm coming down with the flu…or maybe just a cold but my throat hurts and I've got a headache, I need to go to bed really, I'll just leave this here, and after all this time all I have is filler, I'm sorry ;_;

Previous reviewers-

**Moofy-fan-**

Pride is such a pathetic little thing, it makes me annoyed when he acts like he's fine when he's totally not, he needs a good slapping, but maybe that would just make things worse _

I feel bad for little prince Selim with no character to speak of (that ones-hot is still floating through the empty space that's my mind…maybe it'll get somewhere one day). Yay, then Pride's suicide was worth all that research I did about suicide methods…was an awkward google search for sure… _''

I know right, Lust can't handle this Pride not being dependant on her thing, and she cant do anything but watch him get worse :( she isn't going to get out of this one fine methinks…

**Muddywolf-**

Yay, I'm glad this chapter came across as all melancholy, I wanted it to show how secretly depressed Pride was as well as the dreary state the county's in with no king or queen (but that's ok, the government will burst from nowhere to save the day…maybe XD). Oh yeah the lilac (or was it a hyacinth~~?), my random knowledge of floriography had to burst in for forced symbolism again~ .

I feel bad for Pride having to impersonate lots of people, he never gets a chance to be himself to humans except when he was with Sylvie, but even that ended bad ;_; he got so bitter he really doesn't like pretending to be someone else because he knows everything they say isn't meant for him and if they knew who he was they wouldn't like him (or so he assumes for everyone now I guess T_T).

Oh yeah the blood, I'd been planning on getting rid of it ages ago but I got caught up and decided to put it here ^^;; and poor Miles' heart, since this is the first time Pride has properly properly died, or at least gone along with it, and since it's been so long since he died his heart just dissolves when Pride isn't using it D: …why yes, this is the excuse I'm using for why Pride's body dissolves like the other homunculi…wh-why do you ask _ _

Really Selim's part was the easiest part of the plan, all Lust had to do was pick up Pride and dump Selim in the bath instead and copy where Pride had cut his veins. I think setting the whole castle on fire would've been much more difficult o_o

**The idiot that wrote this-**

Oh, no, that's ok, I always appreciate it when people review, it's nice you took the time to review at all really ^_^ oh, I know right, I thought I wouldn't feel bad when writing that since I'd planned it from the start but it made me really angry with Pride. At first I planned for Sylvie to be really pathetic and beg Pride not to kill her but he was annoying me so much I made her stand up to him for once and act like she did in the actual chapter ^^; Father totally did it on purpose, he'd been trying to get Sylvie out of Pride's life for ages, her coming back by chance and making Pride kill her was just a bonus .

Oh, no, it's ok to use epic, I think it's a really nice compliment, I really appreciate it ^_^

Aww, really, that's too kind seriously, there's other Pride fics out there I'm sure. Oh, same here, everyone who I ask about FMA's only seen the first anime, which doesn't help me wanting to rant because I don't want to spoil them ^^;;

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Arakawa…I'm too ill for this, magical cows like Arakawa don't get ill so obviously I'm not her ;_;

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Thirty-Two: Fractured Windows**

**January 4th 1731**

"What is it now, Lust?" it was obvious he wasn't in his right mind still from his _forced condition_, in the old days she would see, sometimes, the tiniest hint of the darkness that was hidden somewhere inside him. It was the other way round now, a glimmer, the slightest touch of purity and innocence flickering for a split second when he was only half aware of what was going on in the few moments after he woke, but that was well on its way to being corrupted too, it was like he hated the sound of her voice these days, exasperated with her even though she'd only just woken him up, well, only just told him it was time he should've woken up if he'd been asleep.

"Nothing, Pride." She watched him rub at his eyes, him wiping the bits of sleep that had collected there, more likely pus instead "I'm only trying to hel-" Pride scoffed, attempting to keep it under his breath, whatever issues that had plagued his container's nose since it was foun—_made _affecting it still, his scoff coming out as a forced breath out. Lust would've heard it anyway.

"**You've been 'trying to help' for some time, seventeen days now you've been 'trying'," **his eyes were burning into her, those cold, blank eyes, scribbled webs of red, lines filled with the blood Pride was supposed to no longer possess jaggedly spilling from each corner and spreading to cradle his dull faded irises, eventually anyway, only gently brushing against them with their sharp spindly fingers for now **"and yet here you are again, and again you're going to fail."**Over the years he had become quite adept at pretending that his true voice actually seemed to come from his mouth, the only evidence of something otherwise being the way his mouth would close and curve into a scowl when he stopped speaking, when he was in a particularly bad mood (when he was tired, which was always), the poisonous hiss he would end his sentence with still echoing and dripping his special type of childlike malice. Lust assumed he would have the sense _not _to use his real voice when and if he met any humans. But it didn't matter how irritated he became with her, she would still help him in any way she could, whether she was under orders from Father or not, and it turned out she still was, so Pride would need to relent no matter how much time he wasted insulting her.

"I'm sure this one will work, all the humans upstairs say that it's the best thing for-"

"**The water was 'the best thing' too, so were the cherries and blackberries and raspberries, and the barley grass, and the two ripe tomatoes as soon as I woke up, and look were they got us." **there was that hiss again, and she just sighed and left him at the side of her bed, off to prepare what she hoped would at least drag him out of his perpetual irritated mood.

Lust was an idiot. Back when he was stupid and naïve and all those other words that he wouldn't dare use to describe himself lest they scorch his tongue he never realized it, but he wasn't any of those things now, and he knew well enough that someone like Lust shouldn't have been so gullible as to believe all this human nonsense. It was obvious none of this was going to work.

"**What amazing human cure have you found today, Lust? Humans live such _long_ lives, don't they?"**

"Indeed, the…sixth king…he died when he was… sixty-eight, and medical alchemy is developing all the time, who knows how…" she gave up trying to humour him, he didn't notice.

"**I was being**_** sarcastic**_**, Lust." **Pride watched her mess with the bubbling pot of water on her dresser, ripping up some leaves and dropping them in. He heard her sigh as she stirred it

"I _know _you were being sarcastic, Pride, so was I. Humans live such short pathetic lives, you've already lived over twice at long as Amestris' longest reigning monarch, perhaps it was for the best, what you did," Lust didn't see the way he paled, the way he understood what she meant all too well, and all too quickly for it to be something he didn't care about in the slightest "when you killed Little Miss _Sylvie._" Pride shrank away at the very sound, as if the word itself was burning him, he pushed himself back until he smashed against Lust's wall, sending white sparks exploding behind his eyes. Something awful was throbbing inside his head, and beneath that he could hear…oh, it was _her _(and the rest, but they were a lesser concern),she was shrieking again, like she always was, like she always would be…

"Well, anyway, I made you this raspberry leaf tea; the raspberries were nice and ripe so I'm sure the leaves'll hel…" Pride bit his tongue, shaking his head, he was being ridiculous, mustn't think about her anymore, she probably didn't even know who she was by now. With a far too forced smirk he pushed the cracked pieces of his composure together, shuffling back to the edge of Lust's bed, but bringing his legs up and covering them with his nightgown, it was…cold now, it was still winter after all.

_Winter…_

"Hm? Pride, what's wrong?" it made no sense, all these pointless attempts should have been impossible at this time of year, the ripe tomatoes, the cherries and barley… but he smirked, the smirk that carved lines into his soft features, the smirk he used when he was pushing all the emotions he didn't want to think about away.

"**This isn't going to work, Lust, it's winter, none of these plants should be growing, anyone knows that. Admit that this is a pointless venture and we can put it behind us." **Lust wrinkled her nose a little as she unrolled a strip of cotton, dipping it lightly into the bowl.

"If you would actually sleep at night instead of-"

"**That wouldn't help anything, Lust; admit you have no idea what you're doing, you just pick any old thing off the street and say it'll work." **She set the bowl aside, her eyes narrowing a tad

"I can assure you Pride, I all my plants are genui-"

"**Stop lying, Lust, I am your older brother, you should respect me as you respect Father and acknowledge your own stupidity without any shame," **Lust let herself scowl, biting into her lip** "you have no reason to lie about how you just make stupid decisi-" **she'd had enough now

"Pride, _Father_ makes the plants I use with alchemy. Are you going to call Father an idiot too?" the way his forced confidence crumbled was quite spectacular, the way his face fell when he realized there was nothing he could say, nothing he could twist to suit himself- it seemed he still had the sense to give in sometimes "I go upstairs and listen to all that human rubbish and he tells me what I should use, he wants you to get better and here you are complaining. You should be grateful I haven't told Father you haven't been sleeping, he thinks you have. It's no wonder you aren't getting better when you're awake all the time!" He was curled up on her bed now, staring at her boot covered feet, much too proud now to apologise, more concerned with the fact he'd insulted Father. He thought she'd tell him, and it was clear he feared Father's disapproval more than anything else. She wouldn't dare of course, she'd already stepped out of line when she snapped at him, if she kept her mouth shut so would he.

"Now, are you going to let me help or not?" Pride raised his head, almost innocent again, a soft, sad little frown on his face, genuine emotion shining through his shattered façade. He didn't say anything, only nodding, forcing himself to sit straight; he wouldn't meet her eyes, shame clouding his thoughts, he couldn't focus on anything now. "Good. Now close your eyes" he did, and he could hear Lust wringing out the piece of cotton, gently covering his eyes. It had cooled now; he would never admit that it soothed his tired eyes, having been awake for over four-hundred-and-eight hours a constant stinging was a given, he'd gotten used to it after a week or so. "Father said to wait like that for about fifteen minutes, and he said it should be in a dark room, so…" he could see the light of the candle fade through his eyelids and the cotton. "Why don't you sit here for a while? I'll go get breakfast ready." Pride opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't know what he wanted to say, and he just turned away and pressed the cotton into his eyes, prepared to wait patiently for whenever the fifteen minutes were up, or Lust returned, whichever came first, and as hopeless as it was, he wished Father's method of curing his bloodstained eyes would succeed where all the others had failed. But he had never been one to wish for impossible things, he just wasn't meant to be fixed this way.

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Breakfast was a less than worthwhile thing in Pride's eyes, human food was so bland and tasteless and generally unpleasant to both look at and eat. It seemed Lust and Greed, being different from him as far as physical composition went, felt compelled to eat overly generous amounts of food at specific times of day just like humans would, as if it was required to sustain them. _He, _on the other hand, was hardly so dependant on food, as far as he was aware the last thing he had eaten was the two ripe tomatoes as part of Lust's endeavors to cure him, and that was a week ago. He didn't mind tomatoes, with their red skin and their tiny sliver of a sweet agreeable flavour, it wasn't as dreadful as he would have assumed, then again, Father had made them for him, so why would they be?

Lust dabbed at her mouth with a cloth, wiping her plate with it and dropping them both onto her nightstand. On account of 'waste not, want not' Lust was drinking the rest of the raspberry leaf tea ("It…it's good, Pride, really…") instead of her usual hot water, while Pride was accustomed to drinking milk on Father's orders. Pride liked milk; unlike food he had become more tolerant of liquids given how often he was required to drink them. Humans only had water and milk available for the most part, and water, like most things, had no flavour, but milk was his favourite among human drinks (melon juice didn't count because it was a part of the actual melon), it was cold (or sometimes warm), and for whatever reason it never failed to soothe him, a pleasant sensation forming and lingering in his head after he drank it, perhaps soothing the voices in his head too, a quiet cooing echoing in their place, whenever he specifically listened for it it would stop- he regarded it as little more than his imagination now. Despite all that it didn't do much good these days, except make him tired and even more irritable, but even then he continued to drink it because Father had instructed him to. In the old days Lust would give it him before he went to sleep, it would always make him drowsy and made sleeping on the floor cozy and warm, or maybe that was just his old clothes. When he was sick that one time, Lust had warmed it and helped him drink it in hopes of making him better, but it had only made him worse because it went bad inside him. Lust blamed herself for making him worse, but that was his fault for not asking Father about whether it would settle his stomach.

"Father says he wishes to see you after breakfast, to inspect your eyes. He says he will be most disappointed if you are not better after this long." A more mentally sound Pride would have realized she was lying about the last part, but Pride didn't even seem to mind how abrupt she was being with him today, but how would he like sleeping on the floor while someone who didn't go to sleep stayed in his bed, well, he'd probably like the floor part just fine but he didn't sleep anymore so it didn't matter how he would feel about such a thing. Pride didn't even have a bed; that was the whole reason he was staying in hers now.

"Then I-" he paused to clear his throat, well, pretend to **"Then I shall just have to make myself better." **it was the only thing they _hadn't _tried, but since Pride didn't have any blood left (or so Father said), then it couldn't be considered an injury, more of a cosmetic issue due to Pride's subconscious automatically reacting to the lack of sleep, as if he were almost human.

Pride tugged lazily at the ribbon around his neck- her ribbon, dirtied and drenched in blood countless times but clean as the day she bought it now, shame the same couldn't be said for Pride, but she had given up on _that _futile hope years ago- no matter how much she still tried to force him back every now and again. With his eyes closed she could see how bad it was becoming, the dark purple splotches of what looked like bruises staining his eyes in wide identical circles- like those creatures she'd seen in one of her _delightful scholar friend's_ many books in his library (he wouldn't be needing them anymore, six feet under wasn't light enough to read in).

As far as Pride was concerned nothing was wrong with him other than the physical aspect, she knew better, with the way he would suddenly stop or collapse, only for a few seconds, and he would love to pass it off as just a stumble but she knew he wasn't that clumsy anymore, his container was forcing him to sleep, even if for just a moment, it was better than nothing. She'd considered putting him out of his misery once or twice, it would be easy, he probably wouldn't realize, let him get a good night's rest, but if he told Father about it…she wouldn't risk it.

Pride crossed his legs, ignoring Lust's request that he take his shoes off when he put his feet on her bed, but he wasn't fussed, it wasn't like his shoes were dirty, he hadn't been upstairs in _these _shoes for eighteen years. Slowly, he tried to smile, feign some sort of pure happiness; just enough to convince whatever decided whether any injury he sustained was worth using souls over or not, which in this case it very much was, much rather his than Father's. After a few seconds he heard that soft murmuring of the peculiar something in his head, it was so high pitched and so very quiet he could barely hear it at all, but it sounded like it was giggling happily to itself. His lip twitched in an attempt at a more genuine smile, and he covered his eyes, feeling them begin to itch and sting as a fluorescent red burst in front of them. The faint little voice continued to whisper between its shrill laugher. But if it was the people in his stone…were they laughing at him? The idea- that they would laugh as his suffering, which in itself was all their fault, he scowled, the light of his regeneration dimming in its stubbornness, and his scowl only deepened as curled himself up, pressing his fingers into his eyes.

"**Go away, go anywhere I don't care, just not here!" **Pride wasn't sure if he meant to say it out loud or not, it didn't matter.

The voice squealed and Pride winced at the sharp pain in his head at the sound, but the second was more a forced squeak, like it couldn't breathe. When he opened his eyes it had died down and fallen silent once again. Lust smiled up at him from the floor, which meant his eyes were—

"**A mirror, I need to—oh never mind I'll do it myself"** The hand mirror was already sitting her lap, but he swiveled himself around anyway, his shadow already seeping up the wall, loose strands of it sagging, scattering around him. Pride didn't mind that the shadow was barely big enough to cover him, pushing the peeling strips back against the wall and forcing them to stick. As his hand pressed into it, feeling for the tiniest impression in which an eye sat his container's eyes fluttered shut; it was easier to see through his shadows' eyes without any distractions. His fingers found the invisible line of his shadow's eyelids, and pulled them wide, his sight little more than a wash of black and grey, he blinked the eye curiously, his shadows never needed to blink, they weren't like 'proper' eyes. At least it seemed like he had succeeded- those hideous dark smudges that had stained his eyelids gone, no doubt his eyes would be perfect as well.

"Pride, y-your ey-" Lust was staring at something, and he only gave her a look that made her think it better to keep quiet, Lust talked too much these days, said too many stupid things for her own good. She bit her lip to keep her mouth shut, covering it so he couldn't call her impolite either, continuing to stare, even as he opened his eyes, his perfect eyes of that pale violet, not too deep like _hers_, nor too keen like Lust's, certainly not as impeccable as Father's, but perfect all the same for someone like him who was above all but Father. Perfect again it seemed, the whites pure and _completely vein free_, as if he contained such a _human_ substance such as blood anymore- how ridiculous a thought.

Then he looked through his own eyes again, and saw what Lust was staring at.

His shadow's eye glared at him, just the one, slowly shifting though the black on the wall, but when he realizedtheir pupils shrank and shook in sync with his 'real' eyes, widening, the wiry red stains of fake blood cutting through the whites like his sharp fingered hands would the air or a human's flesh with just as much ease. They didn't pain him of course, only spreading like cracks in glass, creeping closer to his irises, he .had no veins in his shadows, no blood either. It didn't make any sense, and he reached closer to brush against the 'veins' with his fingers (that hurt, but not enough for him to care), he noted that they were flat, not like true veins which would have protruded out (he had learned as much as he felt he would need about human innards during his third attempt at killing a human the 'correct' way a decade or so ago),as if painted on, only dirty crimson marks made to look like veins.

Those bruises that were but a few moments ago around his eyes were there too, appearing as thin, scrunched up strips of what looked like skin, purple and shriveled and tired with what humans called stress, sagging, framing his eyes in loose creases. And yet he smirked, willing the eye to close, its eyelid still visible now with its imitation of lacking sufficient sleep, before it faded as he eased the shadows back into his container with a quiet sigh.

"**It looks like I'm better" **

"But your eye-"

"**Father wanted my container's eyes to be fixed, and so I have fixed them. I can assume that after my insomnia goes away the new problem with my shadow's eyes will disappear. Since I'm already dressed we should go see him now, wouldn't want to keep him waiting, Lust." **Pride could tell she wanted to say something, deciding she wanted to be awkward like she always was these days, and as always she was going to tell him he was wrong just because he hadn't slept in four-hundred-and-eight hours, what difference did that make? It wasn't like he needed to sleep, Father hardly ever slept, and when he did he deserved a rest because everything he did was for their benefit. But she actually had the sense to not bother this time, and just pulled him around to face her, adjusting the ribbon around his neck.

"Alright, Big Brother. But let's fix this up first; you want to look your best for Father, don't you?" Her voice seemed sincere, but that smile dripped sarcasm like she was talking to a human, Pride might have not been in the right mind to be able to tell, but if she was being like that when talking about Father it could be considered treason. He had no patience for her antics today, and merely agreed and let her tie to ribbon again, a little tighter than before. If he told Father he might punish her, but if he was mistaken…

Pride supposed it was better not to fuss over something so trivial, if Lust wasn't here…there'd be no one to get him dressed in the morning, at least she still did _something _right. And as he considered it…Pride grimaced at the one shameful dependency on his little sister.

He would do something about iteventually.

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Pride's being evil again~ makes me annoyed, I mean he can only get worse from here it's awful ;_; I'd love to rant more but I need to get some sleep before my cold gets worse, I'm sorry for the filler again guys T_T


	33. Returning to Central

A/N I'm back, no time for author's note I'm sorry, I seriously hope I can get the next chapter up much much faster ;_;

Moofy-Fan:

I know right, writing bitchy Pride is so annoying for me since he can never act properly with everyone ^^; especially when he's taking it out on Lust for something he's too stubborn to admit ;_; She's going to end up becoming really ticked off with him if he carries on like this, she's already snapping at him.

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Bad chapter title is bad, but I'm tired ;_; I'm sorry for being so late again as always T_T

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Thirty-Three: Returning to Central**

It was a strange thought, to be returning to Central for the first time in eighteen years, he had never considered returning after…but what use was there to go back to the crowded, cramp little town? Well, now there was a reason, Father's orders were a reason in themselves, never mind his actual task for what he was to do when there.

"Will you be capable of that, Pride? I have given Lust the same orders, I am sure that together you will be able to accomplish this." As if he would need Lust to help him, Lust may have been a woman but anything short of seduction wasn't her forte, getting suitable gossip of recent events was beyond her surely.

"of..._**Of course, **_**Father.**"

"Very good, Pride, you may leave with Lust now." Greed was forbidden from leaving again for being so lax as to allow the royals to trespass where they were no longer permitted without the least bit of resistance, despite the what seemed positive outcome of it, they could have easily found out they had returned without their little intrusion, so he needed to be punished, not the best punishment, but Greed seemed to like having company, so eventually he would get it through his head to behave. But he was still young, only eighteen, maybe it should have been expected, but Lust was never like this…

Lust…Lust was busy tying her hair up as usual, still wearing her human clothes from fifty years ago, she never did change, staring at him as he stepped closer, almost a glare for whatever reason, but as she turned it twisted into a smile, however forced, humans couldn't see the cracks in her façade, but hers would never be as flawless, as polished as his, hers only worked on men, raised sneers and spurned by women, his worked on anyone. Pride smiled too, walking down the hall that would eventually lead to Central, moving his hand away as she went to reach for it, how ignorant of her, thinking she needed to hold his hand. Pride only smiled again at her irked expression, pretending it was an accident; she only glared back anyway, their tug of war between them continuing on. He was only playing of course, and if he was feeling nice he could even let her win, but why would he ever risk giving her the wrong idea?

0 * 0 * 0

Back in the constantly growing town of Central for the first time in eighteen years, it felt rather strange, the last time he was here he…but who was he to dwell on such nonsense? He had an objective from Father now; he had no time for distractions of any kind.

"Where do you want to go first, _Big Brother?_" Lust was still in her awkward mood, itching to cause trouble and just continue to irritate him; he still wasn't willing to humour her in the least, exhaustion still lingering over him despite his insomnia, he watched his little boot-prints trail behind him as he went in the snow, Pride remembered snow, fell from the sky and humans liked it, made rounded fake people with it and clothed them. Human children were so…pathetic, worse than even regular humans, like humans that didn't realize how insignificant they were, without a care in the world, they might revel in their simple ignorance, Pride despised it all the same.

"Father wants us to discover how the lack of a monarchy has affected the humans' morale, so as to gauge how simple it will be to alter the hierarchy to a more suitable structure so as to progress Father's plan, I would suggest we inspect around the castle, no doubt people will still be visiting to pay their respects." After the second fire no one within the castle had survived, with no one to arrange funerals and whatnot the castle remained as a scorched skeleton of a building, no one with any sense would go to grave-rob, nothing of value left anymore, Lust had already stolen anything of interest.

"Alright then, we'll go there." She paused, staring down at with through the corner of her eye, her nose upturned "You do realize no one will tell you anything, don't you? A child concerned with such a macabre topic as suicide? What child would be so morbid? People will begin to get suspicious of you."

"Like they even know the prince killed himself, they'll probably think it was another accident until the humans get curious and find _his _body; you _did _put his body away didn't you?" Pride wasn't putting anything past Lust now; she was so irresponsible that he wouldn't be surprised if she had been so stupid as to forget to replace his body.

"I'll have you know I did it impeccably, when I found you I put him in your place, slit his elbow joints with the dagger I found on your lap and left him there, then I set everything on fire like I was told." Lust flashed him a wry little smile, striding on ahead through the snow in her heels, full well knowing he wouldn't be able to keep up in his boots, if humans hadn't have been around he'd have gladly showed her what an unwise decision that was, but like what seemed like the thousandth time today, he just didn't have the time to humour Lust's naïve and petulant antics, it wasn't even worth the energy of thinking about, he had more important things to consider now.

The moat had frozen over from the winter chill, but no humans dared to step onto it to dare and approach, a solemn air surrounding it, Pride could feel it somehow, despite his vague knowledge of how humans behaved in the face of grief he had observed something of it, Sylvie had broken down almost instantly as her husband died, as if she was capable of true emotions, how absurd. The human were milling about, almost silent except for murmurs and the crunching of snow underfoot, of course they had all heard the news, and would be more than easily swayed to tell a naïve little one what had happened through strings of euphemisms and lies, but their reactions would bleed through anyway, telling him how they would respond to a sudden change in arrangement, their opinions didn't really matter, but finding suitable people to continue to manipulate would be more convenient. Pride wandered off towards a crowd, his eyes softening to take a curious, albeit anxious gleam in them, purple eyes were odd as it was, he would need to not draw attention to them in order to remain unnoticed.

"Pr—Selim? Where are you going?" It took him a moment to realize that she was calling after him, that was right, Selim was _his _name, his human name, that name he misread in the mirror all those years ago, the name he fashioned to keep him from being mistaken for that boy, though he'd never seen this boy, he just knew it would be a terrible thing, that boy was such a lowly creature, lowly even for a human, and he'd died…

Died… but how could he be so sure? Humans didn't live long but…

Pride didn't turn to see if she was following him, she could do what she liked, wasn't like he cared, all what mattered was that he fulfilled Father's wishes, anything less than perfection was unacceptable. Pride stopped close to a woman who was forlornly pressing at the entrance to the stairs that led to the castle's entrance, he did the same, imitation was his greatest asset, helped him understand how humans functioned one way or another, she glanced down at him with a frown

"Why, what are you doing out wearing just that thin shirt? You'll catch your death of cold if you aren't careful" he coughed in a feigned nervousness, smirking inside at even the implication of him being capable of dying.

"Um…what happened here? Everyone looks so sad I don't…"

"Oh, oh you poor dear, has no one told you? Well…something awful has happened and Amestris no longer has a king and queen, so there's no one left to help protect us, everyone is worried, but it is a very adult matter, you should not worry for now." After giving him not a single scrap of useful information she went to discuss those 'adult matters' with other adults, their gossips spreading like wildfire across the crowd, voices mixing until he could only catch parts of conversations.

…_Aerugo's still okay…_

…_What about a parliament, Creta has…_

…_Claude's over the moon, or so they say…_

…_I bet he killed himself, and everyone else…_

…_If we get invaded…_

…_couldn't hack being king, ungrateful sod…_

Feeling as though adults were an already wrung out source of information to him Pride scoffed and discreetly severed himself from them, leaving the crowded square to find another part of town, maybe those who weren't in mourning could give him more focused opinions, their heads not clouded by insincere thoughts of sorrow and whatnot. He didn't bother to see if Lust was following him, she was becoming more and more of a hindrance as the day wore on.

The less crowded streets were more familiar to him, though snow covered and filled with scattered groups of children throwing pieces of it at each other and building little mounds to hide behind or to turn into those snowmen. Pride noted that all the children were boys, and boys didn't listen to anything in the way of news, so few would be willing to talk to him about such.

_Not for that…they'd hurt you…_

Something woke up his head, something sweet and pure despite its quiet misery, whispering in his old voice, tone laced with amusement

_But not now…you'll hurt them back…_

Content, it drifted back to sleep, leaving him alone again. Pride ignored it; he was more than adept at ignoring the voices of the humans in his Philosopher's stone, that peculiar one that just happened to have a voice similar to his own, it wasn't important.

There was a girl, standing by herself, glowering down her nose as the humans ran past her with a scoff, Pride inched closer, a human with such an apparent loathing for her own species would certainly be interesting. But she only glared at him too and turned away, still, he tried again, tugging on her dress sleeve.

"Um, hello." She pulled away, folding her arms.

"Hmph! Like I'd want to talk to such a scraggly wreck of a boy like you," She lifted a piece of paper shaped like glasses on a stick up to her eyes as she leaned down, as if to get a better look at him "go away, go play scotch-hoppers like all the other stupid boys." Of all the humans Pride had been acquainted with he was quite sure this girl would rank high as one of the most unpleasant, his façade came out halfhearted now, cracking in its ineffectiveness. He persevered anyway, lest he do something less than sensible.

"My name's Selim, what's-"

"Are you deaf as well as stupid? Go. Away" Pride's patience was beginning to wear thin, perhaps this girl was not the best to talk to, such an ignorant person would be easy to manipulate if her parents were this way too, but she was stubborn to a fault, someone as unintelligent as her would never be able to even see the false benefits Father would promise them. "Can't you see I'm busy?" And yet he couldn't bring himself to leave her alone, his eye twitching irritably, it would be easy to dispose of her, no one would even notice if he led her away. "Go away and don't ever come back like that other Selim, no one wants you here." A smirk worked its way onto his face, eyes hazing over in that kind of bloodlust he probably wasn't supposed to feel, shadows trickling out under the snow and resting on the sides of her shoes, if he could just—

"My, Selim, how did you get out here without me noticing" Lust pulled him out of his malicious daze, glaring again, as if she knew what he was planning, his façade returned then, he'd never dare to let Lust see his façade slipping even by a fraction.

"I'm sorry, Solaris, I didn't mean to run off like that."

"So I assumed, who's your friend?" The human snorted again

"Your little brother aint my friend! You should take better care of him, but he's too ignorant to listen I bet." Lust smirked, seeing an opportunity to attempt to humiliate him, like she had something to prove by showing him up in the eyes of humans.

"So, what's your name, little miss?"

"Pricilla, if you must know. But I'll have you know my father was the main supplier for the king and queen during their visit, gave it them in advance because he's smart like that. This city's finished now, Aerugo's still ok with Claude taking over; we're moving to East City, he's off getting rid of that stubborn Penelope." Pricilla seemed far happier talking to adults, as if thinking herself more of an adult than the ill-mannered child she was.

"Penelope?"

"My sorry excuse for a horse, she's so old and stubborn, doesn't listen to a thing I say, after we sell it off I'll be getting a much better horse, I'm going to call it Peterkin." Pride was discovering a theme with this girl… she wasn't the most creative of people either it seemed…

The somehow familiar clopping of hooves reached him, though slightly muted through the snow, far too familiar for his liking.

"I'm sorry Prissy, no one wants this old horse, maybe we'll just have to-"

"I don't care what you do daddy, I just don't want her coming with us." Such disrespect for her parent too- how disgusting. But Pride was ripped from his musings by an agitated whinny; Penelope tugged at her reigns and stomped at the snow, her ears pinned back and breath coming out through her nose in visible pants. A horse… Pride remembered horses, horses did horrible things, those faded images flashing in his eyes again, blood and pain and the prospect of death, the source of why he didn't play chess with knights and hardly ever ventured to Central, he'd never seen one so close now before, she was too close.

"What's riling her up now?"

"She's always like that father, just ignore her." Lust wasn't willing to leave Pride afraid, holding his shoulders to steady him. Pride shook his head; it was ridiculous to be afraid of such a pathetic creature, he had no reason to be afraid of them anymore, he wouldn't. He let himself smile, pulling away and staring up at Lust, the smile twisting itself into another malicious smirk

"L…Solaris, can we buy Penelope, she needs a good home!"

"P-Selim we don't…"

"_No, _Solaris, we have lots of room, we have that…farm, don't we?" There was a farm outside Central, that human called Jack used to live there, they could go there.

"You're the one's buying the old Sutcliffe farm? I heard that that Blanche was coming over from New Optain to check it out, she might want to be buying it off you y'know, I bet she's more entitled to it too, it _was_ her great-grandfather's." This conversation did not concern little Miss Priscilla in the least, why was she interrupting?

"Oh, well, Miss Solaris, I could let her go for…let's say, 1000 cenz, we do need to make a living after all." Lust cringed; Greed had spent far less than that years ago on a boa for not knowing anything about the current economy and even that was grossly unreasonable, but to pay 1000 cenz for an animal they had no use for…Pride was going out of his mind, but she'd seen that glint in his eyes, he was up to something.

"A…Alright, that sounds…about fair…" Lust was only _carrying _1000 cenz with her, and that was for emergencies, whenever one of _those_ could ever happen, she quickly emptied her pockets of all her money with a sigh, giving Pride an exasperated glower.

"Thank you, Miss Solaris." Lust took the horse's reigns despite its fierce protests, dragging it along while Pride followed happily beside her, smiling, but Lust wasn't smiling, not one bit.

"What are you planning, Pride?"

"You'll see soon enough, Lust."

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Penelope was not in much of a better mood when Pride and Lust arrived on the hill, near the tree they once spent the night, a seemingly much shorter walk, the outskirts of the town closer in its rapid growth.

"Be careful, Pride this is close to where Father says you aren't allowed to go past." Her concern for him fell on deaf ears, she didn't know why she even bothered, knowing him he'd just defy her and end up killing himself, but she didn't want to risk Father's reaction to getting Pride hurt _again_, though a much more permanent fate wouldn't end well she was sure, if there would ever be a time she would rather desert Father than return to him it would be then. With Penelope's reign wrapped around the tree Pride padded forward with a wide, gleeful little grin plastered on his face, another farce, Lust knew that Pride's bloodlust ran deep through her influence, as his pride had affected her in the same way over the years they had spent together. Lust wasn't his sin, so he couldn't suppress it or control it, he only tilted his head curiously, a crazed giggle reaching her. This would be interesting, she'd never seen him like this, only the after-effect of it, and despite his cruelty she was rather…curious.

"Oh, Miss Penelope, why are you so afraid? I'm so small and helpless, how could I hurt you?" His voice was calm and even for now, almost going unheard beneath the terrified mare's whinnying. Pride giggled again, but forced himself to be quiet, mustn't ruin it by going too quickly, that's what happened the second time he'd killed a human, and that just left him in a bad mood with no one to vent it on, he needed to stay relaxed. "You need to…calm down, like this." His voice hitched, and his sigh was not a forced as he wished it was. Animals and their stupid intuition, she only grew more agitated at his attempts to remain composed.

A few minutes later Pride had had enough, stepped forward to grasp her snout in his arms, nuzzling into it "You know, I used to be scared of horses, but you're such a good horse, Penelope; I don't know why Priscilla didn't appreciate you." Pride felt her freeze, he smirked, letting that pleasant feeling of glee consume him, his shadows tightening around her legs and neck, around her stomach and back - it had been too long.

"**It's a terrible shame she didn't." **Penelope whined in his ear, it becoming more of a shrill distorted shriek as he closed his eyes, shadows stabbing right through her surprisingly soft flesh without any resistance. "**I'm not afraid of horses anymore."** Her legs collapsed in a heap with her body, but the head stayed in his arms, Pride still snuggling into it with his nose in a warped parody of affection. **"But you're still afraid of me." **The moment passing, Pride pressed it to his stomach in his attempt to hold it, blood soaking him from head to toe, collecting in his boots and staining all his clothes a deep crimson, he shivered happily at how it warmed him despite the icy winter wind, melting the snow at his feet, the half frozen grass absorbing it greedily into the soil.

Lust folded her arms, so _this _is what he wanted to do, prove he was still perfectly alright by killing something, and a horse of all things to pretend he didn't have such a weakness as fear? How immature an attempt at denying what he refused to believe, she'd put up with him and his futile attempts to forget about the incident last month like always, for now at least.

"Look, Lust!" He seemed in better spirits already, it wouldn't last she was sure, his malevolent sneer still shining through **"Let's show Father, I'm sure he could make use of it somehow." **Lust realized now, the second layer of his plan, he was doing this to spite her, test how competent she really was in pretending to be human and following human norms. **"Let's go home, Lust."**

_How was she going to take a horse's head and a child drenched in its blood through town without being noticed?_

She'd find a good excuse; she wasn't going to let her big brother's tantrums continue for much longer.

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Using this inflation calculator I found I converted lots of stuff weirdly and guessed that 1000 cenz would be about £1000 in 1730, very different from the economy in 1914. So Greed got seriously overcharged for his fox boa and moonshine…idiot . Let's say there's 100 cen in a cenz, so 1 cen would be about £1.26. That makes sense right? o_o;;


	34. Animal Testing and Wine Tasting

A/N, look, only 13 days ^^; hopefully it'll last.

Previous reviewers-

Moofy- Fan

Yay, I'm glad I wrote bitchy pride ok, he's so annoying to write so I'm glad it worked out. It's a wonder Lust has been putting up with it for this long as it is o.o

Yay for nothing bad happening to Pride ^^ too bad bad things have to happen to other people to keep Pride happy ^^; Poor Penelope ;_; oh, I know what you mean, I haven't seen the Godfather either though ^^;

Chapter, go~!

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Animal testing and Wine tasting**

"What is this, Pride?" the black-haired sin pressed the blanked eyed equine head closer to his stomach, spreading the crimson stain deeper over his shirt from its neck. It was still heavy in his arms, and Pride gathered all the strength he could harness in his container without tearing it to stand straight in Father's presence as well as keep it aloft, he was already ruining Father's floor with the horse's blood.

"**I brought you this horse's head, Father; I believe that perhaps it may of some use to you."**

"Animals have a certain—dislike for homunculi, Pride, why should this decomposing creature be of any use to me?" a short, almost unnoticeable shiver ran through him at the swift rejection of his gift, subtle enough to go unseen by Lust and Greed, but Father saw it, quirking at eyebrow at him, he hung his head. Of course Father wouldn't be interested in a dead animal, how could he have been so stupid as to think anything otherwise?

"**Of course, Father, I will dispose of it immediately." **Lust walked over as Father called for her, asking about the gossip she had discovered about the current political state, about how Antoine's siblings, Élodie and Claude, were reacting to the news in Aerugo, Claude apparently was very happy at the concept of being king due to the 'unfortunate accident'. Not much had been said about Élodie, she was just a princess after all. One Pier Lupton, father of a particularly unpleasant girl, had become almost bankrupt at the loss of the royal family, selling their horse Penelope with plans to move away to East City, Priscilla was never getting that new Peterkin horse it seemed. Of those who had seem him in his 'speech' those weeks ago, a certain few had commented things to Lust, peculiar suspicions, especially in those who had seen Selim prior to the 15th. His rich, _brown _hair, darkening to such a lustrous black, Pride had no possibility of altering his hair colour; his makeshift imitation due to his similar appearance was simply what was required of him, despite the risk. Luckily they had placed it to a result of grief; akin to how some people's hair could suddenly turn white after a traumatic experience- it held no possibility of becoming anything bothersome in the future.

Pride rubbed his eye at the sudden return of his exhaustion, smearing the blood over his face, he'd been so selfish, trying to justify his egocentric wish to kill by presenting his trophy of the event to Father, and to put Lust in her place as well, how shameful. He'd also need to ask Lust to clean his clothes again, it was disgusting. He wasn't sure where he was going to put her head, he was sure Lust could get rid of it, but it was his fault for being so irresponsible, he was going to dispose of it all by himself, it was the least he could do.

"Wait a moment, Pride." He stopped immediately, his boots squelching from their saturation, half turning.

"**Yes, Father?" **his voice strained a fraction, ending in a slight distorted squeak in Pride's desperate longing for approval, mouth hanging open slightly even after he'd finished speaking, he waited, waited for any sign that Father would reconsider it.

"Perhaps… if we were to combine different species of animals through alchemy, it may be possible to condition them to fear or serve us in a number of ways." Something of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, no praise but…even the tiniest speck of approval from Father was enough, he inched closer, delighted in the fact that Father was no longer disappointed in him. "Thank you for bringing this to me, Pride." He was in front of Father again, the slowing dribbles from the horse spattering onto Father's robe, Pride blanched, attempting to cover the wound with his hand, but Father took it from him with a smile, cauterizing it immediately. "I want you to go with Lust now to allow her to wash your clothes; I will begin my experiments on this horse later today, please refrain from disturbing me until I have concluded them." Pride nodded, turning on his heels to return to Lust, but not before bowing with another 'of course, Father' like always.

What other answer would he ever possibly give to whatever Father requested of him?

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"My, is your insomnia going away, Pride? You look ready to collapse." Their mental tug of war raged on silently, away from Father it was clear Lust could be quite impudent if she set her mind to it, teasing him as she tugged his nightgown down over his head, fastening the three white buttons soon after, his clothes still soaked from when Lust had washed them, drying on her drawers. Despite the tempting haze of sleep flickering in the corners of his eyes Pride was far too aware that it was far from a possibility, sleep would escape him yet again, like the past seventeen nights he would have no rest. He had begun to forget what it was even like to sleep.

"I'm not tired, Lust. What made you assume such a thing?"

"Oh, no reason really, I just thought that after over four-hundred-and-twenty hours awake you'd be feeling a little drowsy, especially with your eyes fixed too."

"How ridi**culous a thought.**" Pride's voice suddenly dropped into his metallic tone, not malicious in the slightest, more the weariness of his exhaustion beginning to affect him in different ways, shadows too lethargic to fully manipulate his container's vocal chords. It was so alluring, the thought of resting his head even for a moment, to be so swiftly swallowed up in a soothing dream. Such things were impossible. Every time he closed his eyes for longer than a blink _her_ tortured shriek would reverberate in his head and he'd think better of it, he knew there would be no soothing dream awaiting him even if he manage to ignore her long enough to sleep.

Lust seemed to be becoming used to sleeping on the floor, using her unused clothes as a mattress and again as a cover, Pride wasn't sure what to think of her adapting so quickly, though pride was his sin she was proud herself, much too proud of accept his offer if he ever decided to give her back the bed, how shameful, that she had such an intent as to imitate him so disgracefully, he might have been disgusted with her if he didn't feel so insulted. Pride watched her tuck herself in and rest her head on her hands, so simple and easy for someone like her. But something was missing, he was still…

"**Forgetting something, don't you think?"**

"What do you mean by that, Pride?" Her words were soaked with her teasing tone; he just knew she would be smiling beneath one of her human dresses, as if she had nothing better to do than irritate him.

"**You usually tuck me in before going to sleep, just to make yourself think that I actually might sleep."**

"You're one-hundred-and-forty now Pride, almost one-hundred-and-forty-one, you don't need your little sister tucking you into _my _bed now, do you?" Lust forced a yawn, rolling away from him.

"**But Father told you to…"** There was no point in arguing, if Lust wanted to be awkward she could, he'd just ignore her.

With a warped little sigh, Pride pushed himself under the silk covers of Lust's bed, turning to face the wall. Tiredness tried to drag him down into the depths of sleep for a thousandth time in over two weeks, but he couldn't, lest he be suffocated by the constant echoes of his actions that afternoon nineteen days ago.

But he didn't regret what he had done in the least; nothing could ever take priority over Father's wishes, anything else was merely trivial. Of course it was.

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**January 5th 1731**

Her rather undignified yawn reached him as she woke, didn't wake him though, he'd never slept to be able to be woken up.

"Have** a **nice_**sleep**__, _Lust?"Pride was too tired to attempt to control his voice, letting it drift in and out, alternating between whichever voice through words or syllables; it wasn't like Lust cared which voice he used.

"Good morning, Pride." In a moment she was already folding up her make-shift mattress, dusting off her dress. "I wonder if Father has finished his experiments. Let's get you dressed so we can find out." She reached to unbutton his nightgown with a smile, a sincere smile this time, her awkward mood forgotten again. But Pride hadn't forgotten, if he was too old to be looked after then…

He slapped her hand away, scowling up at her.

"**No. **I'm your **older brother; **I can dress **myself **from **now on**.**" **She stepped away, as if hurt, frowning a little

"But…" Lust tried again, fingertips brushing his cheek; he only pulled away with a scoff.

"Do you not** believe I am** capable **of taking care** of **myself? **How **pre**sumptu**ous of **you." Lust was already collecting his still drying clothes, tossing them into his lap.

"It's not being presumptuous, rather it's _orders _from _Father, _it's a good thing Father never specified what he meant by taking care of you, so fetching breakfast will suffice instead, I suppose." Pride watched her leave; she was murmuring something, her words being drowned out by the angry clacks of her heels. Pride kept scowling, Lust was in one of her moods again, as she was becoming more often it seemed, it didn't matter, he didn't need her to help him in any way, he would be able to dress himself just fine. Now…what to do first…

Carefully unbuttoning the three buttons of his nightgown he pulled it over his head, dropping it inside out on the floor. A quick little chill ran through him, and he blushed, embarrassed even though there was no one to see, he quickly pulled his shirt on, tassels brushing the floor and it hanging open. Not good enough, but how did Lust tie them…? Uneasily he threaded the black pieces of what might have been string through the holes that connected both sides of the shirt, pulling it tight at the bottom so the edges of the shirt touched lightly. He still didn't know how to tie a knot though, so the thread remained loose. The trousers were next, and Pride had no trouble stepping into them, his shirt going un-tucked and falling about his thighs but he didn't mind, he didn't even bother with the belt, it falling off immediately as he let go of the loose attempt at tying it around his waist.

Lust's ribbon hung open around his neck, frayed blue strands decorating its edges; it was old and worn as far as ribbons went, but it was still as deep and vibrant as it had ever been. Lust still had his sash too; he had seen its spare side swaying when she walked by in her human clothes sometimes, purple like it always had been, maybe a little darker than he remembered, staining itself a deeper shade of violet, an almost black at the edges, she must have been letting it get dirty. It wasn't important, he was dressed now so it didn't matter; all that mattered was that he was ready to meet Father for the results of his experiments. Breakfast could go amiss too; it wasn't like he _needed _to eat, he wasn't so weak and reliant on human food like Lust and Greed, what kind of example would he be setting if he was as weak as them?

Five minutes later Pride wandered into Father's room, feigning a smile lined with poison as Lust walked by with breakfast, only one plate, either she was spiting him or she had intended on skipping breakfast today, she didn't acknowledge him, keeping a steady pace, as if she hadn't seen him at all. No matter, it wasn't Lust he was interested in at the moment.

There was fog, that familiar haze as a result of Father creating something that was alive with his alchemy, that cloaked the room in a partial darkness save for the lights of candles or the soft glow that Father's container emitted. It shifted around his knees slowly, less smoke meant that it wasn't as complex a transmutation, he supposed. Still, he was curious, and Pride cleared his throat, mustn't let Father discover the fluctuations in his voice, it wasn't something he needed to worry about.

"**Father?" **he waited then, attempting to determine Father's location, eyes straining through the rising fog, he was quite sure his hearing and sight would be sharper than most, often he would detect things before Lust did, Pride never questioned it, it was just one of those things. However, before Pride could even assume that Father was approaching he was already in front of him, covered in blood and who knew what, but they were removed at a mere thought, and Father was smiling. Pride's smile was far more sincere then

"Hello, Pride." Pride bowed accordingly

"**Good morning, Father."**

"I have concluded my experiments now, Pride. It seems that by combining animals the animals may lose its ability to sense homunculi, or, perhaps the trauma from the transmutation prevents them from behaving aggressively towards them. Even if this is not the case, I am certain that chimeras can be conditioned to serve us one day. I will continue this research once I have created another homunculus. Until then…" A warped whinny echoed from the fog, followed by something that sounded rather like…scurrying, it reminded Pride of something, but from so long ago now he could hardly think of what it could be. Slowly, something staggered out of the haze, it was Penelope's head, but it was…different, wide, blank eyes in place of her previous dark ones, no pupils or any kind of iris, just…white. Its maroon mane was longer, hanging down over its jaw, growing down its back to coat the base of its tail- _its tail_. Pride remembered now, it was a-

"I told Greed to capture a rat so as to provide a combinable base with the horse's head, as well as a soul to house within the chimera." A rat's tail, the chimera as a whole was rather short, and it inched closer, tripping over itself, its long, pink tail flitting about, coming to wrap around its torso lazily, almost around its neck, like it was…

It had a rat's body too, body of a lighter brown, slightly darker than the colour Penelope's coat used to be, pink little rat's paws the only thing supporting its weight, much larger than a normal rat, but far too small to support its head. Its tongue lolled out the side of its mouth, thin strings of blood trickling out the corners; it must have been bleeding internally. Still, it scurried closer, head low to the ground, nose twitching like it still had whiskers, its small rat legs bent out of shape as it tried to feebly adapt to its new form, claws all snapped and bleeding. Even Pride, heartless and cruel homunculus he was, couldn't resist a quiet shudder at the state of its grotesque figure, gazing up at him curiously, nostrils flaring, baring teeth and ears pinned to the sides of its head, he would have never thought such a gentle creature as Penelope- whom, despite his best attempts to convince himself otherwise, had killed out of spite- could produce such a misshapen expression. Then again, this was more rat than horse; there was hardly any of 'Penelope' left.

"As you should be aware this is a very basic chimera. It will not live long, though that much was certain from the very beginning, souls cannot survive in a body that is not their own." That voice so like his own twitched a little, waking again, squeaking out a gasp and whispering something to itself before he forced it away "I want you to monitor its behaviour for a few hours, Pride, after that I will allow you to either continue to study it or dispose of it." Ears flicking, it wobbled up to him, still staring up, it lowered its head, weakly pushing its nose into his chest, nuzzling softly, as if it remembered… but how absurd that was. Despite himself Pride reached to pet it, he felt it tense, but it didn't attempt to pull away, as if it was too afraid to even move.

"**Of course, Father. I will do my utmost in analyzing this chimera's ****behaviour.****" **With a sharp tug on its ear the chimera whinnied quietly, but swiveled to stand at his side, still gazing, always gazing longingly with those blank eyes. It out of the way Pride bowed, and turned on his heels, dragging the misshapen chimera along with him, it tripping as it went, spreading a trail of blood along the floor. With a sigh Pride helped it up with his shadows, softening to support its deformed feet, moving with it as it walked

"**I don't want you dying prematurely, we have much to do. Come along…" **Pride turned, raising his eyebrow at it. It needed a name, not because it deserved one but…he felt rather responsible for its well being for these few hours, and he had taken a sudden fancy to mark it as his responsibility, and his alone. **"Little…Peterkin." **That would do. It wasn't like it would survive for very long at this rate.

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"So then I just dived on it, wasn't best pleased I can tell ya. Well, it definitely aint best pleased now, is it?" Greed's sentence slurred a tad at the end, "I don't really get this whole chimera rubbish though. Father was never interested in animals before, just coz Pride kills one and shows it him Father just needs to praise his darling son. It's like we don't even exist!" Lust murmured something that wasn't a yes or no as she rested her head on Greed's desk, swirling her glass lazily, observing the slow swish of the ruby liquid contained in it.

Lust had been in possession of it for a few weeks, ever since she had stolen a bottle or five from the royal family when she set the castle alight. She had been saving it for a special occasion or rather when she got annoyed enough to indulge herself for once. She sipped at the wine slowly, grimacing at the taste but drinking it anyway, getting inebriated was never about the taste with humans, just drinking enough to pass out or make idiots of themselves. "Wonder when this was made…" She was above such things of course, but thought it nice to waste some of it on Greed's whim. She'd become more accommodating of him as of late, he was a little more mature now if anything, and anything was better than being scolded by Pride for petty things like not dressing him. Besides, Pride was rather preoccupied with his precious chimera at the moment. "Oh wow, made in 1689, now that's old, not as old as _you _Lust, of course."

"That wine's almost three times as old as you, Greed. Sure it'd make a good price on the black market, and here you are just guzzling it down, you really are greedy."

"This aint like you Lust, getting smashed isn't what you really want, aint cheering you up much either." He grinned dopily at her "The little prick's giving you trouble am I right? Why are you still bothering, he aint ever gonna go back to being stupid, Lust. You just gotta make do, or, like me, ignore him. He disappears for a decade and then ignores me when he comes back anyway, so I'll just ignore him back." Greed pushed his glasses back up his nose, refilling his glass, while Lust just knocked back the rest of her half a glass and left it at that. "How about…we spike his milk? The little shrimp won't be able to hold his alcohol, he'll make a right arse of himself, and he'll be out like a light after an 'our or two. Make your life easier I'm sure." Lust only sighed, signaling for Greed to pass the bottle over.

"If you keep acting so disrespectful to Pride Father will punish you, you really ought to keep your mouth shut." Greed knew she wasn't scolding him, just reminding herself that she shouldn't be so accepting of his behaviour, but she needed some time to vent, he supposed. Couldn't be on top form all the time. "Eh, whatever, aint none of my business, just pass the wine back, I can keep this bottle right? I bet you have another twenty stashed away in your room." Greed sat back in his bed, preferring to drink straight from the bottle, pausing every so often to hiccup. Lust stood up, and fearing she'd take it from him Greed curled his arms around the bottle possessively.

"I'd better be going; I'm taking the cork with me."

"Tryna pretend Pride still gives a crap about his flask? You saw how much he destroyed it."

"I have Pride's flask, it's in my drawer" Lust couldn't bring herself to get rid of it, she'd take care of it even if Pride wouldn't, just like she'd look after Pride even when he didn't want anything to do with her.

"In pieces?"

"Obviously." She turned away, off to return to Pride and his chimera, she could hear Greed laughing to himself, hopefully he'd faint before he did something stupid.

"Gu-night Lust."

"Goodnight, Greed. Make sure not to spill the wine all over yourself, I won't be washing the bed covers for you" She heard him groan out something she couldn't understand, his words slurring. Maybe it was for the best, if she couldn't understand him he couldn't get accused of treason.

As Lust walked down the hall to her room she knew immediately what Pride had done, the thick, almost black puddle of blood trickling out through the doorway. The chimera didn't move at all as she stepped over it, the telltale sign of Pride's doing glaring out in the gaping hole behind its empty eyes. There was no blood on the walls, but Pride was on her bed, legs kicking over the edge, him lapping softly at his hands, cleaning them.

"I thought you were supposed to take care of the chimera, Pride." He turned to her, spatters of the blood decorating his half buttoned nightgown.

"**It was dying anyway; I put it out of its misery."** He flopped down on her bed, resting on his chin on his now blood free hands **"The floor's all dirty, Lust, you need to clean it before you can go to **_**sleep**_** today."** Lust let herself scowl a little, the tiniest bit intoxicated, affecting her common sense she was sure, but it didn't seem so bad…

Pride laughed, a weak, forced laugh **"Didn't you hear me? Lust, you have to get rid of the chimera, it's the least you can do, spending all day with Greed instead of helping with Father's experiment, how disgraceful." **He turned his nose up at her, and instead decided to flip her pillow over, testing which side was colder, as if he could actually go to sleep. She stepped closer to him, teetering a little on her heels **"You don't tuck me in any more, Lust, did you forget?" **Pride didn't look at her, didn't see her half-drunk smile. Pride needed a good night's sleep, but he'd be suspicious if she had spiked his drink, so…but she only had one chance this way, if she made just one miscalculation then…

She sat on the side of the bed, running a hand through his hair, feeling for the slight movements of the shadows underneath his skin, and of the _other thing _too.

"**What are you doing, Lust?" **She faked an offended gasp, covering her mouth, her index finger pulling back a little, lining up at the back of his head, right in the centre, her left hand would be less accurate, but there was nothing she could do about that now.

"Oh, nothing." He wouldn't feel a thing. "I just thought-" _Now._ Lust's fingernail slipped through, hitting something halfway ('thank goodness' she thought) but carrying on without much delay, she stopped early, merely scraping the insides of his human's skull. "…that you looked tired." She had assumed he'd cry out, spasm or claw at the sheets, he was so terribly afraid of pain and death. But there was nothing, as if he had merely slipped away into sleep like he would normally. A sudden guilt gnawed at her insides, sobering her up immediately. She had no right to act against Pride in such a way, what was she thinking?

Lust held him close, shakily pushing his eyelids shut, she couldn't bear to see those eyes so dull and lifeless again. A quiet cry echoed out from his head, his true form healing itself, the wound at the back of his head healing far more slowly, but it settled down, cooing a little before it fell asleep. She laid him gently under the covers, tucking him in despite her lies of how he could rely on himself; she'd seen how he'd dressed himself. Pride smiled sleepily as she pulled the quilt up to cover him, not even flinching as she tousled his hair, even after what she'd done. She couldn't deny how peaceful he looked. That didn't help her tears marring his face though.

Hiccupping, she curled up beside her bed, determined not to let herself sleep, she didn't deserve it, after what she'd done.

"Goodnight, Pride." She was grateful he couldn't hear her. But still she shivered, at the thought of what he'd do to her once he woke, if he remembered at least.

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Hopefully I can get another chapter out before Christmas o_o as always, reviews are love ^_^


	35. Juxtaposing Gender & Justifying Jealousy

Sorry I'm a day late everyone, I went watching Sherlock Holmes on Saturday, I really enjoyed it. The other week I went to see Hugo and Tintin as well so I'm really happy that I got to watch such good movies in the cinema for once, thank you student discounts ^_^

And it's almost Christmas, I cant believe that last December 19th it had snowed like crazy, there's no snow here at all at the moment, so I'm a bit of a sad panda T.T. I was on chapter 21 back then too, how have I only written 14 chapters in a year ;_;

Oh right, that ain't no excuse for me not updating on time though is it? I thought not ^^;

Previous reviewers-

You shouldn't feel that bad for Penelope, at least she was dead so she wasn't a part of the chimera, I feel bad for that rat though, having to live like that, I'm actually glad Pride did kill it so it didn't have to suffer anymore ;_;

Yay, I'm glad you still think Greed's in character, knowing me he's probably going to disappear for a while now when I forget about him X)

Nah, Pride deserved it, even if Lust wouldn't have dared had she been completely sober. Don't feel that bad either, he hardly felt a thing, Lust being so precise and all, though she probably only got lucky, being tipsy ^^;

And now for the chapter ^^

If I owned FMA, it probably wouldn't be called FMA.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Thirty-Five: Juxtaposing Gender and Justifying Jealousy **

**January 6th 1731**

Lust was waiting, was always waiting for something, for Father's plan to be revealed never mind completed or for Pride to be in a better mood for once, but for now she was only waiting for him to wake. She wouldn't dare wake him herself; lest he remember and punish her in what she would assume would be the most sadistic of ways. He wouldn't understand such thing as mercy that way, she hadn't wanted to hurt him in any way, she just…hadn't been herself then. She didn't feel as remorseful as she thought she should though.

He was currently bundled up in the silk of her bed covers, nestled within it much like the little moth larva might have been when it constructed a minute part of it. A larva- that might have been the word for him, so small and fragile, requiring protection until it was grown. But Pride would never grow on a physical level, childish form impeccable at deceiving others, but perhaps _them_ too, Father still considered him so naïve and weak and unreliable, unusable for any purpose that would benefit him, perhaps that was what had twisted him so, in his attempts to be noticed he would do anything, ignore his emotions and care little for the emotions of those around him, cling to Father in every which way, slaughter humans in the most sadistic manner he could concoct to grasp even the tiniest sign of praise, becoming the worst of all of them.

Pride wasn't quite there yet, but she feared that one day he would even turn against her; Father's attention was on a completely different plain to her affection. It should have been obvious to her, so many years alone, with only Father as a constant presence, his sole guardian and source of companionship for almost ninety years, Father was Pride's everything, and despite Pride's fear of _it_ above almost everything else, she wasn't so naïve as to think that he would hesitate in sacrificing his own life if there was even the _possibility _of it pleasing Father. That exclusive kind of love that Pride held for Father, that which she could never hope to hold a candle to, she didn't even try to anymore. That might have been his flaw though, he could never have pride in himself if he stayed so close to Father, but Pride would never be able to realize such a thing, and if he had he would never believe it- such a shameful trait of not even possessing the sin he embodied was so far below him he didn't even consider it.

In spite of everything he tried to hide, he couldn't attempt to conceal his true child-like nature when he slept; wrapped in his soft white cocoon he seemed content, managing to form the tiniest of drowsy smiles around his thumb. He'd been asleep for sixteen hours now, more or less, Father had no more plans for the time being so he didn't call for them, and that was fine by Lust, she had merely cleaned up the mess the chimera had made the night before, put the wine cork in her drawer along with Pride's November 5th newspaper (with the small green square of silk given out for the festival celebrating the Prince's birth eight years ago tucked inside), the remnants of his flask and the five corks that had kept it sealed over the years, and then merely waited as she did now. Corks and glass, replaced so many times there probably wasn't any part of the original flask left, but at least she could keep track of the corks. The two originals, over ninety years old before they were discarded, bloodstained, what might have been the left cork had a small hole going through the centre. The two replacements, one bloodstained, thirty-two years old, punctured in several places by glass, the other having taken a thirty-seven year trip to Aerugo, forty-nine years old. The last one, clean, matching the one that had been away, immediately disregarded, less than a day old when Pride considered himself too mature for it, like he ever would be.

Pride yawned to himself, lace-sleeved hand coming to wipe at his eye, and the lace irritating him his eyes fluttered. He stared at her from where his head lay on her pillow, still only half awake. Lust didn't say anything, he might remember, remember and punish her. she had to be certain before she tried speaking to him.

"Oh…Lust, hello." Pride's tone was soft, like it so often used to be, but he could be pretending "Have I been sleeping? But I can't go to sleep….if I go to sleep she'll-" he realized what he was saying and promptly stopped himself, breathing something like a forlorn sigh into the pillow. He didn't remember, thank goodness, she let herself relax a little, pulling her stool closer to the bed.

"Did you dream about her last night?" for his first sleep in over three weeks she expected him to have had dreamt of _something, _anything_, _good or bad.

"…no, I didn't have any dreams last night, I just…fell asleep somehow." But perhaps the trauma of dying prevented him from dreaming. "But I feel much better now. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight too." Pride weakly pushed the covers away, stretching as he threw his legs over the edge of the bed. He almost seemed like how he used to be again. She wasn't so stupid to think he could possibly be like that ever again. Of course this would never last, and as he woke properly the shadows began to quiver gently, coiling around him, beginning to lift his nightgown over his head as he prepared to get himself dressed, he seemed to remember _that _at least. She was only being stubborn back then, she didn't really mean it, she was just so… it didn't even matter anymore.

He shuffled past her to fetch his clothes, but spent far too long simply staring at them and considering what he should do. He still knew he couldn't hope to dress himself adequately, but surely he would never ask her for help. Still, she watched him fumble and struggle in vain to tie the thread to hold his shirt together. Eventually she chanced it, and eased him back onto the bed to attempt to dress him properly. He didn't protest much, still a little too tired, the shadows fading away. Pride still needed much more sleep until he would be back to normal.

Whatever normal that would be was still being determined. Futile as it was, Lust still considered perhaps trying to influence it. But normal would only ever be what Father wanted- and most likely the exact opposite of what she wanted.

0 * 0 * 0

**June 12th 1734**

Pride remembered, never mentioned it, but in those places in his mind he didn't like to consider it had been festering. Maybe they both knew and would mock him behind his back, though he was proud of how different he was to them, in form and appearance, his single weakness that he had never been able to control yet they excelled at so effortlessly had lingered at the back of his mind for a while now. His most clear memory of it was on that November day all those years ago, how weak and pathetic a creature he was, being so incapable of healing himself, having observed Lust and Greed repairing even the most trivial of wounds without a qualm since the moment they were created while he was more capable of letting himself die at the hands of humans sickened him to no end. Well, he would see to it that such an occurrence never happened again, and so he was curled up on a random spot in Father's room, pulling softly at the skin just below his shoulders, tugging down down _down_, it stretching until it was bunching in unsightly wrinkles around his wrists, skin so full of keratin and elastin still, he wouldn't have any worry about attempting to make himself taller if need be. Folding it back into what felt like the correct size somehow Pride considered what he should do, he would need to learn to associate his regeneration with something other than happiness, and then amplify that so that it would far exceed the rate of regeneration of his siblings. He feared that if he was influencing himself it may not work, but Lust was out with Greed, and his issue was far from worth troubling Father with, so he was required to make do.

He started slowly at first, making an innocent little incision in his cheek, right to left from his nose and ending near his ear, and waited. Once the pain had dulled and all what remained was a slight window into his container Pride considered what his next action was. He imagined Father's approval for something, anything really, thought of how delighted he would be at such a thing, and like he expected he began, slowly, so horribly slowly, to regenerate. But regenerating at such a horrendous rate only when he was in a jovial mood would be far too inconvenient, and so he gently hooked his fingers on the gap in his cheek, and pulled.

Like most creatures with sense, Pride was not fond of pain, and he had very little tolerance for it, every stubborn fibre of him resisting the shame of reacting too vocally as he tore the skin down so that it flopped over slightly, falling just below his chin. Much like he had expected, the quiet crackling and red sparks ceased immediately, leaving him to nurse the new wound in his face by himself- but of course, it would take time to adapt, he would simply press on as he should.

Within the next five hours Pride insisted on torturing himself (having moved himself to Lust's room to avoid drawing undeserved attention from Father), the same routine, making an almost unnoticeable blemish with his shadows, and then mauling them with more human methods, using his fingernails, his teeth once of twice, and every time he would stop regenerating, but it would react a little slower each time, sparks fainter. And then…

The seventh time it was different, he didn't spark at all, at any kind of feigned happiness, he knew he never would again- perfect. When he tugged this time, it began to heal immediately, a new layer of skin forming under the gap and the gap itself sealing up in response to the pain rather than anything else. The sparks were bright and vivid are far too conspicuous, but he didn't mind, he could practice until he didn't spark at all, until he could never be seen as anything but perfect. If he adjusted to anticipate injuries he could adapt to heal before they even occurred, use his shadows to absorb the majority of it. One day only his shadows would be capable of even tearing his container, he would make sure of it.

0 * 0 * 0

"So then everyone just decided they wanted a government, and here we are. That's it in a nutshell."

"Seems a little too simple really."

"Of course it was simple Greed, dealing with simple minded creatures practically ensures that they will do whatever we want should they be pushed a little." Lust hadn't the faintest idea why this concept of the humans doing whatever they wished wasn't getting through to Greed, it was as if he cared that they were being deceived or something. "It doesn't matter, all we're here for is to check up on how they're all doing, think about encouraging them to get a little power hungry so they can expand the country and we're golden for today. Father isn't too fussed at the moment; as long as they aren't killing each other or thinking for themselves we'll be fine."

"That's all?"

"That's all." They wouldn't be lying if they said they had set up the government at random, cobbling together the most gullible and patriotic idiots and assigning them positions depending on how they were feeling at the time: colonel, lieutenant colonel, general, major, whatever. There was no true hierarchy at the moment, only two years in they hadn't determined who was the easiest to manipulate, when that person was found, they would cheat, and place him at the top of the pyramid.

There seemed to be…fewer humans around today, not as many as she would have expected milling about the now hollow castle, about five rooms had been spared demolishment, along with the great wall that encased it all now. Eventually she spotted someone who she recognized, probably one of the generals or something; she wasn't too fussed about names.

"Hello, Mistress Lust, Master Greed. To what do we owe the pleasure of your gracing our headquarters with your presence?" The thousands of ways in which they would attempt to prove their 'undying' loyalty to them by utterly embarrassing themselves with trappings of status and wealth, it was quite laughable really.

"Nothing in particular. How is the construction of the headquarters progressing?" It wasn't going too well to say the least, early days still, but they weren't as efficient as she would have desired.

"We're getting there, slowly. Not much work to be had today though, with the big day and all." Lust quirked an eyebrow

"And what day, pray tell, is so 'big' that it is hindering your work?"

"Oh well…it's Colonel Armstrong isn't it, Aloysius, his mother runs the florists, family business you know. I'm sure you know him" She didn't "He's getting married today- '_Wednesday the best day of all' _and all that."

"To whom?" She might have been the tiniest bit curious, marriage was something out of her reach forever, but it was absurd to think she would even wish to marry a human.

"That farmer girl, blew in a few years ago, Bea—no, Beth, no, Blanche, that's it, Blanche Sutcliffe. Heard it was love at first sight, Aloysius has always been a bit of a romantic, can't say I blame him though, a wife might help him dig his way up the ranks. He's quite an ambitious lad, talented too, dabbled in all kinds of things, art, alchemy, right Renaissance man he is. If he works hard I bet his whole family won't hafta work in that florist anymore."

"I…see. So the majority of the current employees here are attending the ceremony, correct?" there wasn't much of a demand for soldiers yet, only a hundred or so at the moment. The colonel, general, whatever nodded "Right. We'll visit again in the near future; we hope to receive your full co-operation when the time comes as well."

"Of course, Lust." With an exasperated sigh she turned away, motioning for Greed to follow, their business concluded.

"So…what good did this trip do us at all, Lust?"

"None at all, Greed. Only that it showed us that everyone thinks it's ok to take a day off work because some nobody's getting married, they really are idiots."

"I thought it was better to use idiots."

"It's a risk we have to take, we have plenty of time to work out of the kinks anyway, isn't like humans live long, we can start again." She could practically hear the wedding bells already, but surely it wouldn't last, as if humans could ever truly love anyone but themselves.

0 * 0 * 0

**January 22nd 1740**

"**Hurry up, Lust!" **they hadn't any time to waste, he needed to be immaculate for his audience with Father, but Father would not wait for them, just because Lust had forgotten to wake him by not waking herself. It wasn't acceptable, but scolding her would only waste more time, couldn't waste any more time, not at all.

"Pride, please hold still, more haste less speed, if you keep fidgeting we won't be able to get it done at all." It was easy for Lust, whose clothes were her skin, becoming her kind of perfect only entailed waking up and combing her hair. Quickly, quickly she buttoned up his waistcoat, pulling his coat on over his shoulders roughly, as if she could be as flustered as he was nervous, he wasn't even trying to hide it, he didn't have time to. His old clothes- new clothes, it didn't really matter, only his most illustrious, regal clothes were fitting for him to witness the birth of another homunculus, the fourth, what would one day be the middle child. So much had happened since Greed had been born, and yet somehow it felt like no time at all. Pride leaned down to pull on his boots while she weaved erratically through his hair, using needles and thread and whatnot to attempt to hold his crown in place. A few years before she's sewed a comb to one side, but even then the crown only stayed in place at an angle, falling to the left side of his head lazily. He didn't have time to worry about it.

"What's next? Pride, what's left? The cravat, of course, the cravat, oh goodness." It never took less than a few minutes for Lust to tie his cravat, what hope did she have of tying it now; they were late as it was. She tied it far too tight around his neck in her haste, leaving it crumpled and misshapen; he'd need to fix it himself. She only dragged him along; Greed had woken them up what felt like hours ago, Father would punish them if they weren't there, such disrespect would never be tolerated. Then again, he had never been witness to a homunculus being made, he had only ever seen them when they had just awoken, perhaps Greed was lying about their punctuality… Pride wasn't willing to risk it though.

"Good morning Pride, Lust, thank you for arriving on time." Greed had been lying, but Greed never lied, so he probably was just _mistaken,_ it didn't matter now at any rate. Pride disregarded the thought, bowing down

"**Good morning, Father. If I may, has our sibling been born yet?" **

"Yes, his name is Envy, you will have to wait for the dust to settle, he seems to be currently evading my detection." Father had told him about his plans for his new sibling, years ago now but still he knew them exactly. Father had showed him a book about the stars, and about how the moon was female, and the sun male, but if the sexes could be mixed somehow that would make a perfect being, which is what Father wished to be, and by making a homunculus something like perfect by making it genderless he could become perfect through the same method. It seemed so simple when he thought about it, and he had been delighted that Father could achieve what he wanted this way. Patiently Pride waited for the dust to clear, adjusting his cravat and dusting off his coat, anything to pass a few seconds. It took far longer than he would have thought, either that or time had slowed itself to pester him, but even then he couldn't see any dark shape like he had anticipated, after all, all his siblings were taller than him, he expected this one to be too. Still, nothing, except for some green little insect that had dared to wander in

"What the Hell's that?" Greed's voice called out from behind him. Pride couldn't deny that he found it rather revolting; he wasn't fond of any animals really. He gave it a quick grimace and carried on searching for his elusive sibling, becoming a tad irked at how disobedient it was being, hiding from them like that.

"We can't see anyone Father." Lust decided to speak up "Except for that insect, but surely that can't…" She covered her mouth, not wanting to dare imply such a thing. Father's eye caught what they were all staring at, regarding it slowly, but the light of the room began to flicker, Pride winced a little, almost unnoticeably, something was wrong. He wouldn't dare speak though; it wasn't his place to question anything that Father did.

He glanced at Lust uncertainly, something like dread beginning to grow in his mind, this wasn't right, none of the others had ever been so disrespectful and not appeared before Father like Envy did now, it didn't make any sense. Despite their apparent nervousness Father had not stopped staring at the speck of green on the floor, it was more of a glare, he seemed so…angry, he had never seen Father look so furious, but…but that couldn't be…

"Get out" It was nothing more than a whisper, but a poisonous, deadly hateful whisper all the same, if Pride were a weaker person he would have flinched, but he settled for lightly bunching up his sleeves in his palm. He felt Lust grab his arm, easing him behind her.

"What?" Lust reached for Greed's arm too, hissing at him to shut up.

"Get out. All of you be gone; remove yourself from my sight _now!_" They didn't need telling thrice, and without another word they turned on their heels, not even bothering with the courtesy of bowing (though Pride tried to before Lust pulled him away), though none of them would admit it, they all feared Father in a way, and they had never seen him in such a state before. They wished to never see it again.

They didn't see the way Father flopped in his chair, filled with anger and disappointment.

They didn't see the deformed green shape of their sibling limping after them either.

0 * 0* 0 * 0 * 0

Phew, another chapter out of the way ^_^ and now Envy's here, but we'll deal with him next chapter ^^ See you all in the new year everyone.

Oh, by the way, I was a little iffy on if Pride's classical conditioning of himself to work out his regeneration problems would really work out, I'm only in my first year of Psychology so I'm not too sure, sorry if I'm completely wrong T_T


	36. Adjusting Errors

A/N Happy new Year everyone ^^ yay, 2012, this years the year I'm gonna get this fic done, really! ^^;

Previous reviews:

Wow 3 reviews, guess that makes a nice Christmas present ^_^

Muddywolf-

You know me, I have to make giant references to chapters ages ago ^^;; and of course Pride wants to be the best at everything , regeneration included. And of course wouldn't want anyone to know he was hurt so he'd also want to not spark at all. And from my observations in the series I assumed that the shadows must shock absorb most of it to prevent his skin from tearing, or something like that o.o aww, no, most of this doesn't have a narrator outside the characters, that was Lust considered that they'd be cheating , but it isn't like she cares if they're cheating or not ^_^

Moofy-fan-

You know I couldn't resist Pride and Lust fluff, with their time as friends being numbered and all ;_; I didn't mean it to be that gory, it just sorta…happened -.-;; of course Lust is very concerned about Pride and Greed, she knows what Father can do so she's always worried about them some ^^;

Velgamidragon-

Oh wow, I didn't know collagen did that (stupid science class, you made me look bad *bad reference I know I'm sorry*), sorry for not including it, though I'd be worried about too much of it making him look too young maybe, actually I don't know what I'm talking about I'll forget I said anything ^^;;

Ah yes…Envy, I don't like Envy enough to give him a nice intro ^^; yes, Greed is going to get lost in about 60 years, cant wait ^^ Yep, yep, it's all in hand, I have most of the chapters at least planned out very basically ^_^

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Thirty-Six: Adjusting Errors**

"Well, that _certainly _wasn't a waste of time was it?" Greed scoffed to himself, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. Lust felt herself nodding, but thought better of it, with Pride watching, it wasn't like he needed any more reasons for him to not respect her.

"Be quiet, Greed." Once Greed had begrudgingly shut his mouth, Lust turned her attention to her older sibling. He was standing beside her, weakly pulling at his crown, gaze boring a hole in the floor, brow creased in uncertainly and confusion. Of course he wouldn't know how he should feel, he wasn't allowed to be disappointed, but none of the other homunculi had turned out like this, or had made Father so angry, so she wasn't surprised in the least that he was feeling a little conflicted with himself. After a moment or two she watched him scowl a tad, sighing and easing his coat down despite the season, as if he saw no point in wearing his most illustrious clothes if there was no real homunculus to introduce himself to. The three of them hiding from Father in the corridor that lead to their rooms was certainly not the most dignified of situations either. Of course, after a few moments the cold caught up, seeping into his frail, mostly hollow little container without much resistance, and he soon slipped the silk coat back over his shoulders (it wasn't like she herself wasn't cold, she was seriously considering putting on her own coat, even though it wouldn't be considered polite to wear her big winter coat inside), nervously pulling at his cravat, the silence and the precarious atmosphere following Father's venom filled outburst no doubt lingering in his mind. It was not directed at him by any means, but she knew he was sensitive, that he would easily absorb those feelings around him and take them into himself to digest and curiously, if a little nervously, ponder. These being feelings from Father (Father was probably the only person's feelings he would take into account these days, if ever again) was what was affecting him so, his wholehearted devotion meant that he couldn't bear to see him displeased, even if he was not the cause of it. She knew he had far more selfish reasons though- if Father was displeased he was more likely to take his frustrations on the eldest, he had dutifully removed himself on Father's orders not out of respect for him, rather to avoid being on the receiving end of Father's wrath, still a very real threat, even more so now that he had one less sin to distract him from it.

Lust only stared at him as he continued to fidget with his cravat, the prince of Amestris and Aerugo's cravat, and clothes, the only clothes she'd stolen, the other she had bought, the one before that Father had made for him. She would never tell him that the prince was quite a bit taller than him when he had been alive, the slack, puffed out trousers he wore not nearly a puffed out when _he_ had wore them, frilled cuffs not covering his hands, only reaching his wrists, it was probably no secret that Pride was far from the average height expected of someone at his assumed age, though his container being who it was that wasn't very surprising, most of those she had seen who were homeless and starving were far below 'normal' height. The best Pride could hope for should he realize his stunted stature would be to attempt to permanently stretch his skin to a new height, if the weathered, almost seventy year old bones of his human would allow such a thing.

Pride looked up as he felt her staring, twisting his mouth into what could be considered a smile if she squinted, one of his less sincere smiles, but not because he wished to be malicious, more that he didn't see a reason for smiling under such circumstances, a weak, reluctant smile. Lust smiled too, the same kind of smile, tentatively setting a hand on his head, and for the first time in who knew how long she felt as though they had a common ground in their mutual uncertainty about what was to follow.

"Oh God look what's come crawlin' in." Greed decided to speak up again, nodding in the direction of the small little speck of green that was hobbling towards them.

"Don't look at me." It tried to shriek at them, its voice loud-ish considering its size, but not loud enough for them to pay much attention to.

"Where d'ya think you're going?" Seeing its attempts to inch past them unnoticed Lust scooped it up, gently, as if it was so fragile she was afraid she would accidentally crush it. "I'm not really seein' the 'human' part of this homunculus, y'know? Ya sure Father didn't just botch up a chimera by mistake?" as if it was aware that Greed was talking about it the cobbled together mossy green mess turned to face him, eyes wide and terrified "Ugly little shit aint ya, no wonder Father kicked you out his room." Lust felt the way it shivered in her palm at Greed's words, hurt more than ever, even if only half an hour old. Seeing its eyes cloud up with tears she slowly began to run her finger along its snout, up over its head and down over its back, scarcely decorated with little spike-like bumps- it certainly was a strange thing, not in any way like them at all, Lust didn't know how it could have turned out so…not wrong, but so…different at least. Lust didn't think it so bad though, after all, Pride had been…different too, and he was treated better than any of them because of it, she was sure that, somehow, Father could accept Envy as his own, and actually treat him as such.

Yes, now that she could see it more clearly, with its rough skin, sickly green colour, long, bedraggled lizard like tail, eight stubby misshapen legs (four of them looking more like hands with equally blunt fingers), eyes much too large for its body (thank goodness the colour of _them _was at least normal, the same shade of magenta as Greed's) and a mouth at completely the wrong angle, surely it was ashamed at its appearance from how it had been received by everyone it had been acquainted with in the last thirty-odd minutes- very true to the nature of its sin.

"Shh, calm down, Envy, there's nothing to be depressed about, I'm sure Father'll find a way to fix you soon." it sniffed dejectedly to itself, but it stared up at her sideways, eyes either side its head she doubted it could see in the way that was 'normal'.

"Envy?"

"Yes, Envy, that's your name. Mine's Lust, I'm your older sister" She motioned towards Greed with her spare hand "that's Greed; he's going to be twenty-eight this summer. You poor dear, you know about numbers don't you?" she lowered her hand to let Pride see closer at his new younger sibling "and this is Pride- he's your eldest brother, please don't be fooled by how he looks, in May he's going to be one hundred and fifty." the last part was more for herself she was sure, she was always forgetting about it, but remembering him when he was so naïve and helpless, she would never manage to push down those maternal qualities of hers, but at least now she could try and force it onto Envy instead, maybe it would appreciate the concern more as well. Pride studied it with a curiosity tinged with disgust, even now Pride was still rather biased when it came to physical appearance, anything animal-like was lower than those humans who were already insects, more akin to chimeras and whatnot, so his quick appraisal of his new sibling was no doubt going to be of a subpar rating, though since Greed was made Pride's general opinion of everything had lowered considerably, so she had expected nothing less no matter how Envy turned out.

A few moments passed, and Envy seemed to calm a tad, still shuddering silently, but it seemed to be more at ease at least. Contently stroking over its nose again, Lust felt as though nothing else was really any of her concern outside soothing her youngest sibling. But then it flinched, and cowered away from something to her right

"Envy, what's wrong?" She turned to see what he was so anxious about. It was Father, his shadow covering all of them save Greed; hand tight on Pride's shoulder, Lust bent her knees as an excuse for bowing, her spare hand clasping over Envy so Father wouldn't see him.

"Good morning again Lust, Greed," Father's fingers tightened further "Pride." Pride's mouth was set in his usual emotionless line, but his eyes betrayed him, quick flashes of terror flickering across them, he was terrified, so utterly afraid of what Father could possibly want with _him_, when he was furious with Envy,even if he thought no one could tell, he was probably even trying to convince himself that was true. Littler things gave him away too, like the way his fringe shook with his otherwise unnoticeable trembling, or the way he had suddenly froze, and stopped breathing. There was no doubt in her mind that if Father didn't have any issue with Pride at the moment, he would if he could see the fear plastered on his face, if he couldn't already feel it, maybe his concern with Envy would keep him distracted, she hoped so. Father leaned over to half whisper in his ear "Pride, there is something I wish to discuss with you." Lust could practically see his pupils dilating "Come along." a more visible shiver ran through him at that. Slowly, slowly he tried to calm himself, batting his eyelids. After a few seconds that seemed to drag on for hours, Pride had managed to cloud his eyes so that they were as soulless as he desired them, hiding his fear beneath it like she had expected he would.

"Of…**Of course Father." **he still didn't hide the hitch in his voice as best he could, his disappointment of Envy and Father's unusual behaviour had unnerved him to a point that his perfect façade had slipped. Quietly, and secretly nervously, Pride padded after Father, emotionless and filled with the undying devotion that came with being Father's child. Lust watched him go, silent, still absentmindedly smoothing her finger down Envy's back. Envy was defenseless and naïve, it probably couldn't see that kind of fear that they all hid from Father, that they instead voiced as awe and loyalty, Envy was too young for that yet. But he'd grow into it.

0 * 0 * 0

"Do you know why Envy has such a different appearance compared to you and your siblings, Pride?" Father had taken to sitting in his chair, and Pride was happy to stand, an audience with Father was far more important than the fact that he hadn't sat down for over an hour, he didn't mind at all.

"**No, Father." **He wasn't one to make assumptions when it came to Father, and even though he genuinely had no idea how something could have gone wrong with Envy to the point Father had become livid with them. Even if he had an idea he wouldn't have voiced it, mustn't ever think he could determine what Father was fully planning with anything, his thoughts were so far elevated above his own that he wasn't meant to truly understand them.

"Why do you not believe I created it this way intentionally?" Pride faltered slightly, Father was testing him, he needed to be cautious here, succinct and in no way presumptuous, Father would never accept anything but loyalty and the utmost respect, if he were to phrase it wrong it could be considered impertinent, and if that happened…

"**You…you reacted to it as if you were disappointed, you did not formally introduce us to it, so I believe that something must have not gone according to your original intentions." **

"Do you consider these to be faults caused by some error on my part?" At the very implication of such Pride paled, he hadn't meant that at all, he still didn't know why Father wanted to talk to him about such things, he didn't know anything about this new homunculus or why something had gone wrong with it.

"**No, Father, you would never make such mistakes."**

"But, Envy being a part of my soul, should it also not be capable of making such mistakes?"

"**Perhaps, while being created, it acted irrationally once partly conscious, leading to its altered appearance." **It was only a very feeble guess, but he couldn't see any other plausible reason for it turning out a way completely different to what Father wanted.

"Perhaps. It seems that while it is genderless as I had desired, it does not conform to the humanoid appearance that I expect from my children. For now I am assuming that it accidentally used the number of souls it was born with," Pride had seen it for himself well enough, it was quite grotesque and pitiful to say the least, and it looked so tiny and helpless, but it didn't deserve any sympathy if it had been foolish enough to squander all the souls Father had given it only moments before it was born. "reducing it to a rather basic form that I had prepared for it to revert to should it ever be seriously injured beyond what regenerating would be able to heal, rather than it dying." It was like Father had anticipated such a thing, giving it a basic, defenseless form that would prevent it from dying, though he didn't see the reasoning behind it, if whatever had injured it to cause it to revert to such a state they would have little trouble killing it if it had no means to protect itself. But Father had a reason for everything, so the thought of questioning him didn't even cross Pride's mind.

"As such, I shall be providing it with another Philosopher's stone to help it alter its appearance to something more-suitable." That sounded like the best thing to do, but if Father had suggested it of course it was the best thing "Pride, go and collect your siblings. I will rectify Envy's appearance immediately." was that all Father wanted from him? But why would he… it didn't matter, he had orders now, and following them impeccably was his first and only concern at the moment. He nodded, bowing low before him like he always would; Father would never expect anything less from him.

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After five minutes Pride was again in Father's presence, Lust and Greed standing a little behind him and Envy with Father, a ways off on the floor (the pathetic thing was still crying when it arrived), being repaired. Pride couldn't see very well in the dark of Father's room- most likely due to Father's less than pleased mood with today's events, but he could see Father crouched down on one knee, touching a finger to his head, no doubt to harvest another Philosopher's stone for Envy from the eye he concealed in his forehead, much like his shadow's own eyes, he'd only ever seen it twice, at least he was sure it wasn't just his imagination this time. A minute later Father stood and returned to them

"Envy will be with us in a more…adequate form momentarily." Pride still couldn't see anything in the way of definite, but soon something changed, and the silhouetted shape of his younger sibling seemed to swell, and rise high above them. He felt Lust pull him back gently by the his coat collar, but full of urgency, a large, green, clawed hand slamming down where he'd been standing, an inhuman roar filling the air and echoing off the walls. Before very long the creature stopped to groan, and began to fade, compressing into something much smaller, smaller...

But still it groaned, hunched over, feeling blindly around, form still uneven and constantly changing.

"Pride, help your brother to his feet." Immediately he did, stepping closer to the kneeling figure on the floor, holding out his hand, something of a smile on his face. Of course, he should be happy that his new sibling now held a more appropriate appearance.

"**Hello, Envy." ** Pride crouched a little more, stretching his hand out further, the lace falling over his fingers but surely Envy would be able to tell that he was trying to help it. Something crackled with familiar alchemic sparks, and he felt Envy reach to take his hand, the sparks only intensifying to a point that he covered his eyes. Envy's hand was shaking slightly, like it was afraid, or…changing somewhat, soon it felt softer as the light began to die down, smaller too...

It took a moment for Pride to open his eyes, rather interested in what his new sibling would look like. When the same pair of soft violet as his own stared back at him he almost gagged, pulling away so violently he ended up dragging Envy across the floor. He could barely hear Father's voice mentioning something about Envy's ability to change its shape. That pale, perfect face, but not perfect on him somehow, only he was perfect, how _dare _Envy even try to emulate him, in such a wretched state too, hands hidden beneath flaps of skin growing out from its wrists, its futile attempts at imitating his lace cuffs, no clothes at all, just scarce skin coloured bumps over it. Coming out of its daze it pushed itself onto its knees, it did look…like him, but at the same time…no, it was nothing like him, not perfect like him. Pride saw it now, on its thigh, the red ouroboros shaped stain, marring what appeared to be his own milky white flesh.

_I don't have a mark there, stop it…stop it…_

There'd no shadows at all beneath it, only pathetic, almost human insides and that weak pitiful lizard sitting inside its head…

"**Stop that, Stop that now! Change into someone else!" **It seemed to ignore him, staring past him, and it began to spark again, face changing, eyes becoming more vibrant, hair growing out down to its waist and further until its limbs began to grow. Splotches of black formed over its skin from the neck down, imitating Lust's gloves and dress. It hadn't completed its imitation of Lust when it spotted Greed and started to change again, and Father soon after, trying to find a shape that suited it.

It went on for over ten minutes, glancing between the four of them, stealing characteristics from each of them, more often than not settling for black hair, once chancing Father's golden eyes but thinking better of it. Finally it settled upon something different entirely that it no doubt considered original, different from all of them yet still not appealing in the least, hair still reaching its waist, but falling in countless, long, thick strands from a piece of fabric wrapped around its head. Its sorry excuse for clothing was nothing but a thin sleeveless shirt like Greed's except seemingly cut in half, what looked like a skirt and two pieces of cloth folded over its feet in place of suitable shoes. It was Lust who stepped forward to help it…him(?) to his feet (she seemed to have quite a bit of trouble with it, was he that heavy?)

"Oh Envy you must be freezing like that, are you cold?" As soon as the words left her mouth he started shivering.

"Cold. I'm cold."

Pride didn't move from his place on the floor, watching as Lust fussed over his youngest sibling, wrapped him up in her coat to keep him warm. Murmuring things about his shape shifting abilities, how unique they were, and how happy she was to have a new brother. Still, Pride couldn't help but remember Envy's disgraceful parody of him, and yet Father had thought nothing of such a shameful imitation, he was far too disgusted to be ashamed. But still, Envy wasn't like him, Envy could only pretend to be others, Pride wasn't the one who had such a weak, pitiful creature that Father had to create to ensure it didn't die, as if he had already assumed it would lead itself into such a situation, he didn't do such a ridiculous thing as being born as a disappointment that required Father's intervention to rectify.

He certainly didn't need to rely on such affection from Lust either.

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Phew, hope this chapter was ok, as you can probably tell I…don't. like. writing. Envy.

Well, that's all for another two weeks, hopefully I can actually stick to this schedule once I'm back at school ^_^;


	37. Fleeting Fancies and Forced Fantasies

Sticking to this schedule, I am, for now x_x had exams this week so it really messed up with my writing, I had to cut THREE scenes from this chapter to get this written in time, they'll all be in the next chapter x_x

Previous Reviews-

Moofy-Fan-

Aw, thank you, even though I hate Envy I'm glad I managed to write him at least normalish ^_^ Oh, yeah, I did kinda feel bad for Pride when Father was annoyed with Envy, I ended up imagining him like that rabbit that Ed and Al catch on the island that looks really scared and I was just awww, then I remembered he's still shunning everyone and life went on ^_^ Well, Envy's pretty good at replicating stuff, he only got confused since unlike Lust and Greed Pride has real clothes which made him think Pride's clothes were his skin too. Ah yes, Pride's lazer guided amnesia and denial, when I was writing it I was just like 'lol' XD

Muddywolf-

Yay, I'd glad I managed to write Envy ok. I was really worried about writing Pride and Father's dialogue together since I needed to write his dialogue a little afraid even though he was trying not to show it, plus I was really scrutinizing with how Father could twist Pride's phrasing to end up implying something disrespectful so I was worried it wouldn't turn out right, since I only wanted the one sentence to be misinterpreted ^^; Of course Pride'd be disgusted at Envy, given his disgust at worm Envy this was just another strike against Envy making a good first impression, I can't see them being good friends, especially not with Lust wanting to mollycoddle him ^_^

Anyway, on with the chapter ^_^

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Thirty-Seven: Fleeting Fancies and Forced Fantasies**

**January 25th 1740**

"I've been wondering something, Lust." Envy's voice in its non-altered form was far from any of their voices really, but he would always listen attentively when any of them spoke, trying to dissect every nuance, every slight change in enunciation that would one day lead him to perfect his imitation in almost all aspects. Personality would probably trip him up a lot, being around people such as them who were constantly playing a game, it wasn't like he would be capable of understanding their decades old charade, what good would such a thing do anyway? Trying to discover such was foolish. For now he was simply curious, hiding that petty jealousy of his in the fact that he could only pretend to be someone he wasn't (but they were all like that so he'd have to get used to it) and practice his shape shifting in hopes of gaining some attention from Father- for the most part Father had left him be, leaving him in her care and she was happy to have a new sibling to depend on her.

To Envy's most obviously leading statement Lust nodded, turning to face him. Of all Lust's siblings thus far Envy was being generally ignored, Greed had gone upstairs to waste money and 'make friends' like he often did, like it wasn't only three days since a new homunculus had been created but any normal day, and Pride was busy being smothered in the small shadowed cocoon he had taken to wrapping himself up in to keep himself isolated and what she assumed was to keep Envy away from him, lest he be imitated again. He was probably curled up with one of Father's books, though one her very recently purchased books had gone missing from her tabletop, so she wouldn't put it past him, like Father he desired to possess more knowledge than what would probably fit into his hollowed out little skull, that treatise written by a human on human nature would hold no sensible information she was sure, but if he was content in staying in his dark (though he most defiantly was lighting it from the inside with a candle or the shadows would not be sustainable), cramped, lonely space that was fine by her, being cooped up in his little willing prison- he might as well have not left his flask at all.

"And what would that be, Envy?" She allowed the slightest hint of amusement to creep into her voice, Envy was young, not exactly naïve but not one that well versed in common sense either. He'd certainly learn eventually, but until then she was happy to act like any sensible older sister should and correct him when he might accidentally stray (she tried to tell herself that she wasn't filling the void that Pride had left when he had severed himself from her, or trying to succeed here where she had failed with Greed). He inched himself closer to her, as if he just knew she'd be able to answer his query without the possibility of it being beyond her, at such an age she should have expected him to hang on her every word.

"You said that Big Brother Pride's body wasn't like ours, didn't you?" Envy began to change as he often did, he knew better than to try and fully imitate Pride ever again, only forming a vague countenance of his forever boyish face, still trying to stave off his confusion over Pride's clothes not being an extension of his body still resulted in him resorting to staining all his body from his neck down the shade of purple of Pride's coat and leaving himself bare apart from that, being able to remember the hazy detail of Pride's sleeves the white webbed flaps of skin grew out from his wrists as well. He shrank himself too, until her winter coat was almost suffocating him, he pulled it tight around him to hide his less than what he would consider satisfactory imitation (though his reluctance to perfect his imitation of Pride didn't help either), only his head poking out. If his intentionally unchanged eye colour hadn't already ruined her suspension of disbelief she would have mistaken him for that old, once innocent big brother of hers in a heartbeat, but maybe that was her wishing a bit too much. Envy was…very good at what he did, considering his age, she had been good at murder too, but that required less practice outside of not leaving too much of a mess, it wasn't really the same.

She had seen Pride's…undignified response to Envy's instinct to alter his appearance to match others, of course he would react in such a way, only he could be perfect, his container was perfect because Father made it all by himself just for him and no one else (Lust stopped herself before she ended up scoffing aloud at the thought), if there was someone who he considered inferior holding his appearance he could no longer be perfect, and what he would consider to be their glaring imperfections would only serve to reflect those internal flaws that he would never believe even existed. Of all their fantasies and delusions, Greed's stubborn belief of that thing called free will and independence, her want to believe that Father considered them a family, that she tried to uphold even though she was failing, but Pride…well, he was so caught up in them he didn't even realize it, and perhaps that was the worst delusion of all, and maybe, in some ways, the best.

"That I did, Pride's body isn't real, not like ours at all really. You've seen the shadows he has. That's what he's made of; they help him move his container around." Pride's rejection of Envy only ended up with him injuring himself on a more physical level, everyone had seen it save Envy and Pride himself. Envy was heavy, as it was expected given his true size, and in Pride's desperate attempt to tear himself away from Envy's imitation of him he had been foolish, putting so much strain on his container, he didn't see the way his wrist had broken, severed from the rest of his arm for a moment, stretching in a line of wispy black as he dragged Envy across the floor, the recoil once he managed to pull away no doubt leaving his arm a cracked, fragmented mess of broken skin, being torn apart by the agitated shadows coiling just below the surface. It was hardly worth the soul or two he probably unconsciously used to repair his arm for something so minor, rather than simply letting go of Envy's hand. Lust just hoped Envy would leave her be now, he was of no age to be prying into such things, she was far too prepared with her abundant web of lies should he do so, but she was in no mood for it, nor did she think she ever would be.

"But," it was almost inevitable now "but when he helped me up, there—there was something in his hand, inside it, it felt like-" Envy squeezed at his fingers and his hand experimentally, just to be sure "—bones, that's what it felt like. But you said Pride didn't have any bones since he was made of shadows instead of blood and stuff like we are." Oh, it was one of _those_ things again, that which she had been sworn to secrecy and yet seemed to try its utmost to be discovered in one way or another, it had graciously evaded Greed's detection through his general lack of interest in any aspect of their eldest sibling, but with Envy's young curiosity, and while it would be easy to lie to him with him so trusting of her, actually constructing a firm and believable lie so quickly could prove troublesome should Envy wander and question Father about it.

"Oh, well, you must understand that…Pride's shadows…they aren't always wispy like they are now, sometimes they become solid, and they can be used to…cut, and eat things, once he even—never mind, that was a long time ago, but what I mean is that they might be partially solid inside his container to help it keep a fixed shape. That's probably what you felt." There, that would do for now, even if she was only grasping at straws and lying through her teeth Envy would probably never find any evidence to disprove her. There was no proof whatsoever that Pride's container was anything but artificial. No one must ever find out _that_, should anyone discover it, Envy would use it against him and tell everyone he laid his eyes on, Father would punish her for being irresponsible like always, Pride would…she didn't even want to think what Pride would do if he found out, and Greed, well, Lust wasn't sure Greed would actually care either way.

"Oh, so he isn't like us at all is he?" Envy seemed rather satisfied with the answer, thank goodness. After a moment or two he started to change back to normal, which was probably for the best, Pride would _not _be best pleased if he found Envy holding his shape again.

"Appearance wise, no. But you must've think any less of him because of that, you understand that, don't you Envy?" he nodded

"I understand, Lust. But I still don't know why he doesn't like me very much." Envy slouched a little in her coat, wrapping himself tighter.

"Whatever made you think such a ridiculous thing, Envy? I'm sure Pride likes you." He only wilted further, his enthusiasm dying away as he seemed to finally realize the lack of interest he had received so soon after being born. Lust shuffled herself off her chair, kneeling down beside him

"Don't be downhearted like that Envy, we're a family, we all love you very much." She pulled him closer to her, embracing him much like she so often used to with Pride, so determined to soothe him. He stared up at her, soaking up the affection but confused, at two days old it was no wonder, and even if envy was his sin there was no reason for him to be so miserable.

"Are you sure?" Lust smiled, more at his naivety than anything else, it selfishly reminding her of Pride, reminding her of how selfish she was being too, using him this way. Still, she stroked down his nose, and gave him a less than sincere kiss on the forehead.

"Of course I'm sure." For a moment she even managed to actually believe herself.

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**July 8th 1743**

Pride didn't have an abundance of clothes by any means, possessing fewer than three complete outfits and less than thirty separate articles of clothing. Some were not best suited for some seasons, venturing out in his thin grey shirt was not appropriate for winter and snowy weather, it made him look particularly 'wretched' apparently too so was not the wisent of choices in how he presented himself to the humans. Other clothes, like his thick white robe, had only seen the light of the human town once and never again, though often warm and comforting, in a sudden chill or frigid breeze it would fail in its duty to keep him warm and would much rather let him catch his death of cold, it also stained terribly at the slightest provocation.

And some of his clothes weren't suitable for anyone. He was forbidden from going upstairs, so long as he wore the clothes of the Amestrian prince he couldn't go upstairs lest he stir unnecessary discord between the humans, and rouse suspicion of him. He didn't mind in the least, why would he, there was nothing to be had in Central that he hadn't already seen in the four times he'd been there, if he were allowed upstairs what new would be there for him? There was no point of leaving; he was content in staying with Father, while Lust and Greed and Envy went upstairs almost every day, Envy just _loved _going upstairs, just so good at imitating others that he oft caused a spot of irritating but otherwise harmless mischief in pretending to be what he wasn't and would never be.

But Pride could only reread so much, sprawled within his shadowed cocoon, gazing through barely focused eyes at the small gap in the top, arms wrapped lazily around the third volume of that human's essay on the nature of his species, inaccurate as it was about humans in general it was interesting at least, but even his fascination with the book had waned considerably since its publication. It wasn't that Lust didn't like books, she owned many books, he was sure she was going to actually purchase a bookshelf one day rather than carrying on filling her drawers with them, but her focus of taste was a childish fancy for such redundant and immature subjects that he could barely understand, she was one for modern literature in her attempts to present herself as a very cultured and sophisticated woman in Central, having no knowledge about these books was no good, so she had immersed herself in many things, the treatise he was holding (though it didn't prove popular so she had pushed it from her mind), that story of the girl named Pamela and its many parodies, the tale of that human called Joseph Andrews, whatever was in fashion and happened to catch her eye really. If she actually valued the contents of these books she was more stupid than he ever would have assumed, but he wouldn't put it past her.

Sluggishly the shadows began to fracture on his whim, compressing into the usual tendrils and hands, collapsing and falling around him in lazy half spirals, coiling gently into themselves in his unease and boredom. Slowly Pride decided to not bother with anything and lay in a more comfortable shape, curling around the book, half using it as both mattress and pillow and yet neither given its size. Eyes drooping and fluttering shut another eye opened, the eyes with the human-like capillary stains and creased purple eyelids, flitting around in his shadow; even now it was still a peculiar feeling, to be flowing down, out through his feet and in steady black streams across the floor, he hadn't practiced it in a while since he had no use for it, but he thought it better to try now if not to ensure he would be prepared should Father require it of him, to at least pass some time. As Pride continued to force more of himself out from the pores of his feet, through his socks and the leather of his boots he curled tighter, teetering the line between being awake and asleep, it was easier to expand outside of his container when he could keep it still and focus his energy in moving his shadow instead, considerably reducing the volume meant that any moving he did while more of his consciousness was elsewhere would be difficult and not to a standard that he would consider to be acceptable. If he fell asleep he wouldn't be able to stay outside his container, though he would rather not admit that it was something he could not do flawlessly being the age he was, but he needed to be perfect for Father, so he would continue to practice until it was such.

Pride couldn't say that he hadn't improved considerably since he had started using his eyes, he remembered how he used to be, during those ten years he spent with Father, at first even making an eye to form inside his shadow would give him a headache even if it remained close to him due to his warped perspective. After that Father began to blindfold him so as to correct his vision, though once or twice he fainted when he ended up wearing his container out too quickly by not allowing it to rest while doing so. But now, if he stayed still enough, he could move it across rooms, almost anywhere he was sure. And though this was useful for exploration, he knew that controlling his shadows with only hands and teeth was infinitely easier.

As he slinked past Father's chair with a narrow tendril and an even narrower eye (narrow to conserve energy of course) he saw Father give him a glance, and a slightly longer glance at his container. Father didn't move as much as he used to anymore, spent a lot of his time asleep or reading, his hair had faded a tad too, not as vibrant as it used to be- Pride was partially concerned about him, but placed it to something intentional and wouldn't dare think of questioning. Father didn't seem to object so he carried on, up the stairs that still lead to the now Headquarters for Amestris' military. Running along the perpendicular crease between the wall and the floor Pride covertly observed the many human soldiers wondering around, in their identical blue uniforms, the only disruption to the sea of blue gracing his vision being a tallish blonde woman walking by, who looked strangely familiar in some way, and if he was in his container he was sure that voice in his head would have something to say about it. Three children hovering around her, a girl wearing a pale yellow dress walking along side her, holding tight onto the hand of a much smaller boy who looked like he could barely walk, another boy walking little in front of them, curious of what seemed like everything. The smallest one, being closer to the ground, spotted his single eye nestled in the thin shadow on the wall, while he didn't dare move should his presence become more obvious Pride kept his pupil trained on the human, glaring at him, disgusted that such a small pitiful human had managed to discover him. The boy opened his mouth in a tiny 'o' shape, but his surprise turned to fear in an instant, and he pulled away from the girl and ran to bury his head in what Pride assumed was his mother's side. She smiled, cooing something to him and tousling his hair, pulling him a little more quickly along to wherever they were going. Pride waited for them to carry on down the corridor and leave his sight before he decided to move again (the boy never looked back at him), streaming down the opposite hallway, wherever the group had been coming from.

Every hallway looked the same to him, plain and white, nothing like it used to be (back when…), and keeping himself flat against the wall he carried on, travelling along door arches when a door disrupted him, up stairs and along more identical corridors. But once he got distracted, and accidentally went under the door instead of around it, into a room. The room was as bare and bland as any he would imagine considering the walls of the rest of the building. There was a large table and countless chairs dotted around, one single chair at the far end of the room. But something was…different here, strange, overlaid in his mind was a completely different room, exactly the same size but…illustrious yet refined and perfect in its own way, he could see…a dresser and a bed and…

_Oh._

It was…_her _room, so long ago now he'd been here…

For a few moments Pride didn't see the humans and their senseless discussing of things, he only himself and _her_, clear as day her nineteen year old self, smiling down at him, that weak, pathetic naïve doe-eyed version of him which he despised, and he was smiling back.

_Oh, this old thing? It's a tiara, well, it's a crown really, for a boy, from when I was a baby… Mother said I should keep it safe …_

_Her _crown, clipped slanted even now to the side of his container's head dozens of feet away.

_Do you want to try…dancing, Pride? It will be fun I promise you._

Pride could see his other self's eyes shine in that ignorant curiosity he used to possess, not a single speck of malice there, he _had _been intrigued by the foreign word that day, the day before she left and didn't come back for several decades…

Slowly his eyes focused, that wretched image of the past blurring, distorting until it ended up wiping him and one half of the room away in a swipe of black streaked with violet, and her in a cloud of black stained with red blotches, the colour began to wash out and clear, until only the real mahogany seats of the humans' conference room and the bickering humans in them remained. After a moment or two he pulled himself back under the door and returned to the wall, another eye having suddenly formed in his shadow, Pride forced it away with the intention of continuing his exploration.

But he…

…he didn't really see the point. Every room here was bound to be the same. The fact that this particular room had once belonged to _her _did not faze him in the least, no such pathetically human emotions existed that he could be capable of being affected by such irrelevant memories of his. Pride had merely grown bored and nothing else, and so he retreated his shadow, down the stairs and underground, past Father and seamlessly into his container, shivering a tad at the feeling as he regained control of it, wearily forcing his eyes open, eyelids almost too heavy to be worth the effort. He expected as much from travelling so far. Though seeing no point in staying awake he sighed, absentmindedly scratching at his head, fingers catching in _her _crown, and he settled for tearing it out, coiling around it and Lust's book as he brought his hands close to his chest, coat splaying out behind him in a misshapen crease. There was something warm and wet pooling around his cheeks, but he didn't care enough about it to take full notice, only curling up tighter and wiping it away as he did. He couldn't take notice of irrelevant things if he was asleep

Or feel absurdly human emotions he was incapable of possessing for that matter.

Before even a minute had passed Pride was asleep, hands tightly wrapped around Sylvie's little golden crown.

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Great, nothing happened this chapter, hope it was okay -_-


	38. Insights into Incidents and

A day early this time ^_^ yay, now because last chapter had so many scenes cut this chapter's pretty much those three scenes and nothing else, yay for spillover…? Not so much -_-; Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway.

Previous Reviewers:

Moofy-Fan-

Aww, its nice that you thought the chapter was cute, I didn't really write it like that, though I guess since the chapter got cut in half or so it's cuteness looked better or something. Trust me, I don't, I wonder if my dislike for characters like Ed is so strong my dislike for Envy doesn't seem as bad? oo;. I'd think that after the way Pride shouted at him anyone'd be scared to imitate Pride again ^^; I know right, I guess Lust's always on pins about if anyone would find out Pride's secret that she has lots of different possible lies for what they could ask but still needs to quickly expand them into something believable ^_^

I always wanted to make Pride have a little shadow cocoon, I'm happy I found a good place to put it ^^ Aww, of course he was so sad over it but couldn't admit it ;_; Well the fluff bunnies died in their fluff train going off that cliff (a la Toy Story 3), which was a real shame, so I guess their ghosts came back as sad fluff bunnies instead…not sure which emoticon I'm supposed to use for this… T_^;?

Muddywolf-

Aww, yeah, I did end this chapter on a downer didn't I ;_; sowwi, my fault for cutting those 3 scenes aint it~? Well it aint fully fully completed, completed enough to function properly at least ^_^ Of course Pride tries to pretend he isn't feeling sad or guilty ;_; 

Yay, I'm glad Lust seemed different now, even though she's trying to be nurturing it doesn't work out as well since Envy isn't really like Pride at all and she knows she's being selfish by using him. I guess she's jaded enough to realize that even though the family's breaking apart she knows that she'll only delay the inevitable and nothing she can do will help. 

I really didn't think Greed would care, he doesn't like Pride enough as it is XD Of course Lust has to think fast to make sure Envy doesn't find out the truth : D She needs to think about what would happen if anyone found to keep herself determined to keep it covered up, and to keep her lies in order. 

Pride must've been very, very bored to want to spy on everyone upstairs, ad he ended up being seen anyway, sneaky Pride wasn't sneaky enough ^^; Ah yes, reading, I wanted to show Pride reading again since he went through all that effort to learn and only read that newspaper back in chapter 25, so I wanted to show the desire he shares with Father in wanting to know things, even if he considers literature written by humans to be inferior XD

I'm glad you liked this chapter, even if it was only 2/5 of what I'd originally planned ^^;

Frisk-

Aww, thank you for such nice comments, I've tried my best to write each of the homunculi and make their past interesting enough, and yay, someone else thinks Pride's the best homunculus, it's awfully difficult to find someone who likes Pride at all so it's really nice to see someone new who likes him as well ^_^

Oh, no, tis a very intentional theme as you'll come to see in later chapters as well, stemming from the fact that the eyes seemed to be a weakness among some of the homunculi, and its allusions and relation to the soul and the implied effects one can have on the other. I'm glad someone managed to catch it since I'm always worried about my themes being too obvious or too subtle ^_^

Oh, not at all, I've never read that play, and only scarcely heard about it from psychology o.o that's a pretty cool coincidence though. I feel like I'm being really dismissive I'm sorry ;_;

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed my fic so far, and I hope you enjoy this chapter and the rest ^_^ 

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Also, as I'm only one review away from 100 I've been thinking of writing a drably drabble of a scene that I ended up cutting, or rather whatever the 100th reviewer wants really ^^ Though I'll only write from before the date in this chapter since otherwise I'd be giving spoilers away ^^; I'll post the drabble on my Deviantart once I finish it ^^

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Thirty-Eight: Insights into Incidents and the Intricacies of Indolence**

**April 23rd 1767**

In his lack of the sense that he didn't particularly understand- that human sense of 'smell'- his other senses had heightened considerably, no doubt Father had constructed his container this way intentionally, a keen sense of smell would never be useful, having keener sight and hearing than most was much more beneficial to him. Though his ability to see in complete darkness was still far from acceptable, Pride had perhaps come to terms with it, it was something that he could not improve upon- but not a fault with his container- certainly not, how absurd an idea, it was fine, it wasn't like he'd be put into a situation where there'd be complete darkness anyway.

It was these heightened senses that Pride possessed that allowed him to catch small scraps of Father's conversation with Lust while barely awake, the only sign being the slow forced opening and closing of his eyelids as he stared dopily out at nothing in particular, he only caught sparse words of course, Father's voice seeming a little slurred in places, but surely it was only his imagination. It was about the Fuhrer and Central's development like it often was, it had been…quite a while since the government had been established by his reckoning, but being less than a month shy of one hundred and seventy seven years old however many years it had been since its inception did not affect him in the least- at the very thought his eyelids drooped, the soft, wispy invitation of sleep still tugging in the back of his mind. Pride was sure Father wouldn't mind if he slept a little longer, as far as he was aware Father currently had no plans for him, and Father had taken to sleeping more often than usual in recent years, surely if he was part of Father then such a thing would affect him too. A moment or two later the clacking of Lust's heels as she walked away, seemingly to her room given the direction of the sound, or further along the hall to Envy or Greed's rooms, it didn't really matter to him.

After letting his eyelids slide shut with the intent of sleeping for an hour or two he heard Lust coming back with more loud and distracting clacks from her heels. It drew closer, until it seemed to be next to him.

"Don't pretend that you're asleep, Pride." Her voice was drenched in something like annoyance. They hadn't spoken for a while; he hadn't had anything to say to her, she was still far too occupied with Envy to be any of his concern. Her tone wasn't very respectful either, to which he allowed himself a little irritated scowl and a slightly drowsy glare up at her.

"**If it weren't for you making so much noise I might be able to actually sleep."**

"Well you can't sleep in today anyway."

"**And why is that, Lust?" **Pride's voice came out more as a hiss, how dare Lust be so insolent to him, in Father's room no less.

"Father wants you to go upstairs with me to talk with the Fuhrer, which means…"Lust threw something in front of him with a thud, Pride liked to think that he didn't flinch at it, even though he knew he had. "You need to get dressed, unless you want to cause some sort of city-wide scandal at you wearing _Selim's_ clothes as if it were normal." He liked to think he didn't flinch at her mention of _that _name in reference to _that person_ either. With a sigh he pushed himself onto his knees, reaching for his old clothes, but there was…

"This is only the trousers, Lust." It was then that Pride became aware of the small wooden box Lust was holding.

"Exactly, Pride. Father wants you wearing 'new' clothes. So that entails modifying your old clothes" She pointed at him, gently pushing his coat open with an elongated fingernail "Take your shirt off, I'll make it more 'normal' for you. Don't look so ashamed Pride no one'll see you. Just button your coat up." Without warning she cut up through his shirt, the six buttons coming away and falling with six quiet little clicks. Pride scowled as his shirt fell open at the top, pulling his coat closed.

"**Why did you-"**

"Those buttons are made of _pearl_, that'd be suspicious; I need to replace them, Pride. Now, give it to me." Reluctantly he pulled his coat down, untucking his shirt and handed it to her, scowling all the while, pulling his coat back on and pulling it shut immediately after, flopping back down so no one would see.

"Good, I'll stay here and fix it; you can read this while I work." She sat down a few feet away from him, pushing the book closer to him; it was much thinner than all the other books she'd purchased. Still scowling, Pride picked it up and scanned over the title.

"**The History of little Goody Two-Shoes. What sort of book is this, Lust?"** She was busy cutting his frilled sleeves off with her index and middle fingers serving as scissors when she turned nonchalantly to him.

"Oh, it's a children's book, Pride."

"**And **_**why, **_**pray tell, did you purchase such an infantile book?"** He could practically see her smirking underneath that determined look of hers as she threaded her needle.

"There's a new edition coming out soon, so the bookshop reduced the price of this edition, that's why. Besides, Pride, don't you know that old books can be worth money? Do you remember that book I bought _The ladies tale? _Oh of course you wouldn't I bought it while you were with Father for that decade, well the other day I met the wife of one of the generals and she was really interested in it, but since it's rather rare to find a first edition these days she paid much more than I bought it for to buy it off me. So I bought this so that I might sell it in the future. Now, I have to go find some normal buttons for this shirt, I'll be back soon." With that she stood up and wandered off to her room. Pride didn't understand Lust's reasoning at all, what kind of respectable (or rich) human would want to buy an old book intended for simple minded children, especially if new editions would be available? This book was certainly not worth the space it took up on Lust's bookshelf (which she had purchased five years ago from Central's finest carpenter and was currently situated against the right wall, between her mirror and set of drawers, and now more than half full with her random assortments of human literature) at any rate. Still, it wasn't like Pride had anything better to do, and he wearily looked at the cover again.

Below the title was short description of the book in a particularly cryptic sort of way, and below that a little poem of sorts, for whatever reason Pride decided on reading it aloud to himself, even though he was more than capable of reading without speaking.

"**Set forth at large for the Benefit of those:**

_**Who from a State of Rags and Care**_

_**And having Shoes but half a Pair" **_A quiet, but no less painful twinge popped somewhere in his head, earning a quieter wince from him and a small groan of annoyance. He was very aware of what it was, that persistent bored voice in his head that felt the need to irritate him whenever it wished. Pride tried to carry on as if nothing had happened.

"_**Their Fortune and their Fame would fix,"**_

…_Oh…a book, I've never read a book before…_

There it was, with its wistful airy tone stained with the precarious insanity that came with isolation. With a squint Pride tried to force it down like he usually did.

_Please don't push me away; I'm not doing anything…_

"**Go away." **In his mind Pride could see a fractured smudge of red floating by itself, distorted and flickering along the edges.

_Pretend I'm not here, I won't bother you…I don't want to…I never wanted to bother anyone…_

"**Stop using my voice, pathetic wretch."**__It giggled, but it was a sad, forced giggle, like it was the only thing it could do to keep itself from crying, the little crimson stain fading ever so slightly, though a quick ripple of a lighter hue pulsed through it at the same time.

_I told you so; you don't remember me, do you? So long ago we talked like this, do you remember, Pride? _

If Pride had actually listened to the voice he was quite sure he remembered something. But such had only been a dream, faded and blurred and not an ounce of it the truth.

_Nearly two tens and nine of threes in years…I suppose, but she learned—I mean taught me how to count properly, so that's…eighty-seven, isn't it? I bet that's why you don't know it's me; I couldn't talk so good back then, not like her, not like you. _

_She doesn't remember much anymore…thinks I'm you…I'm more alone with her now than I ever was on my own, she's better off not knowing, not being able to tell who or where she is, but that's selfish, isn't it?_

…

_Please don't ignore me…_

Pride was determined to do just that, and ignored the quivering wisp in his mind in favour of continuing reading. If Lust came back and he was here talking to himself she'd only tease him about it, and being teased by his _younger_ sibling was something he didn't need.

"**_And gallop in a Coach and Six"_ **

_Coach…c-c-coach…carriages…carriages have…horses…_horses_, no, please don't…_

The shifting cloud of red darkened, and twisted into itself, turning almost black at its core, a faint outline of something human forming beneath it, what looked like painful spasms making it flinch and murmur senselessly to itself.

_Horses, horsesare-itwasLily—no,theMiller'shorse, notherfault,no, Jemimadidn'tmeanit, whataboutPenelope, Penelope'sahorse, she'saratnow,aboyratcalledPeterkin,but…but…don'twantodie, don'twant…don'twant…soalone…Luna…helpme…makethemstop…_

The cloud's edges sharpened to countless points as it shrieked, such a shriek filled with sadness and anguish and a deep hidden resentment to the point that Pride winced, squeezing his eyes shut. Some stray wispy strands that looked like hands rose to clamp around the top of it as it shook, it turning every which way frantically as if hearing something. It softened again as it stopped itself screaming, condensing and becoming paler, its centre fading too, becoming an almost whitish-pink.

_Gotosleep, gotosleep, forget ,need to…forget…_

It was still shivering, as if it…

"**You're crying." **The possibility of red coloured blob with his voice existing for so long was absurd in itself; the idea that it was still capable of human emotion was another level of absurdity entirely.

_Don't be s-silly, Pride… I can't cry, not anymore…_

"**What do you want?" **Pride was becoming particularly irked with the neurotic little voice, though it had stated it wished to observe him read without disturbing him it seemed to be determined to do anything but leave him in peace.

_Don't…worry…I'll go now…forget about me…_

Tiny smudges of green and black washed over it, and it seemed to curl up, gently rocking itself to and fro, the odd coloured stains beginning to centre near the top of it, almost looking like…

_Gol-de…sl…ki…y… eyes…_

"That song…" some long neglected memory dragged itself to the forefront of Pride's mind, his voice rising into its high and innocent tone, exactly the same as the voice echoing in his head.

…_iles awa… you when…y…r…._

Pride remembered…something, something that was much more imagined than real he was sure, it was ridiculous to consider it anything but a figment of his imagination, but Lust had sung something similar once to him, in that dream, in that endless abyss of crimson and blu—no, orange, why did he remember it as blue?

_Slee… pr…wa…do not cry…_

There was someone else in that dream too, but he couldn't remember anything but that voice, his voice, in a dream nothing was supposed to make sense so anyone could have his voice, but this wasn't a dream… and he was not so foolish as to daydream about such senseless things. Scarlet sparks began to flit over it with a faint crackling, similarly coloured fog beginning to coat it, pulling at its edges, slowly absorbing it.

_a… I wil… sin… a…lu…by…_

It didn't resist at all as the minute splotches of green and black were torn away from it and returned to match its surroundings, it faded away altogether with one last forlorn whisper.

Though confused beyond his limit for caring Pride did what he thought would be most sensible and tried to carry on as normal as he could and pretend nothing had happened, though the voice had appeared and whispered to him before, just not on such a scale before, it was still nothing more than his imagination and he would regard it as such and move swiftly on and continue reading his book. Opening the front cover Pride spotted the long strand of green ribbon tied around the book, forming a small bow on the spine, no doubt placed there by Lust to serve as a bookmarker. Pride slowly pulled at one edge and watched it untie itself, pulling it out of the book completely to reposition it after he'd read a page or two.

"You could've at least humoured me, Pride. You haven't even finished the first page for goodness sake!" Lust flopped back down beside her sewing box, dropping six white bone buttons into it, had it only been a few minutes? She only snorted at his apparent laziness and carried on cutting at his shirt's sleeves with her nails, approximating over whether each sleeve was the same altered length and beginning to sew the open seams together. Pride ignored her, reading more to sate his boredom and to force the peculiar occurrence a few moments before out of his mind than to keep her happy.

The book seemed to be about a little human girl called Margery Meanwell, an orphan (Pride knew the phrase from somewhere, it meant the human had no parents), her father had died from disease and her mother from a broken heart soon after. Lust had finished sewing one sleeve now, turning her attention to the other, but she suddenly changed her mind and reached for his grey trousers, unfolding the parts she had raveled up years ago because they were too long to be shorts but too short to be trousers. She held them up in front of her, and with a swipe of her hand half of the legs fell away.

"That's better, real shorts now."

Margery was not completely alone in the world though, she had a brother named Tommy, and while he had two shoes, she only had one, but he'd been sent far away for some sort of job. She'd cried when he'd left, but he told her not to cry, and said he'd be back soon

"**Lying through his teeth…so like a human"** Pride commented aloud absentmindedly, though he had no idea about how the rest of the book was about to unfold he just _knew _that those who went away _never_ came back when they promised to. Lust had finished sewing the first leg of his 'new' shorts when she decided to return to the shirt, quickly sewing the buttons on. After three buttons she changed her mind again and switched to sewing up the second sleeve of his shirt.

Now alone, Margery had been taken in by a Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who surely doted on her, buying her a pair of shoes rather than having to bear her suffering through only having one shoe, earning her that name of _Goody two shoes, _rather than _Goody half a pair of shoes_, which Pride considered to be not as attractive a title, if the book was even the least bit appealing in the first place- which it was not. Lust was finished with his shirt now save the three missing buttons at the top, but turned her attention back to his trousers and resumed sewing up the neatly cut right leg, occasionally snipping away a frayed piece of cotton with her little finger and the finger next to it which Pride didn't know the name of.

Though her staying with the Smiths could not last, and regrettably had to let her go after the cobbled together family was threatened when she was discovered there. There was quite a tearful farewell, but it didn't seem to discourage Margery any, for Margery was a curious girl, she liked to learn and discover things, eventually learning much more than her friends who went to school, borrowing their books while they were away. She endeavored to teach her friends as well, carving out ten sets of the alphabet in both its forms out of wood to help them. She taught them words using her spelling book and how to form basic sentences, because surely Margery was a nice human like that. Rethreading her needle, Lust took to stitching in the remaining three white bone buttons into his shirt, their eyes sometimes meeting as they glanced at each other.

There was a boy named Billy too, Billy Wilson who lived nearby, as by this time Margery- though now more known as _Little Two-Shoes_ –__had become a tutoress (Pride didn't know what one of those was exactly, but he reasoned that he would never encounter one so did not need to completely understand such a human concept) who travelled around to teach her younger pupils. Though Billy wasn't very well adept at speaking he had learned all his letters, and could arrange properly when Margery would place them in the wrong order. Next Margery was going to visit Farmer Simpson, who had a dog and—

"There, all done. Let's get you dressed, Pride." Before Pride could place the green ribbon on the page to keep his place Lust had already pulled him up by the wrist to his feet, the ribbon still caught in his hand. Knowing his embarrassment at getting dressed she deftly pulled his coat away and wrapped him up 'new' frill-less sleeved shirt before he had time to scowl or blush. Pride was quite used to getting dressed by now and tried to accept it without becoming ashamed, focusing instead on the funny little naïve human book made for equally naïve human children, of course it was, with its sickly sweetness and an optimism that was most inappropriate for what had happened to little Miss Margery in her life, and no doubt her cheeriness and perseverance and virtue would ensure that in the end she would be rewarded with everything she ever wanted in her short pathetic human life. Such drivel would only serve to make humans even more unintelligent and insignificant than they already were.

By the time Pride was dragged out of his bitter daze he was already almost fully dressed, Lust busy tying the piece of thread that served as a belt around his waist. She took the ribbon out of his hand, 'hmm'ing to herself before deciding on his neck like the two accessories he had worn before, his cravat already rumpled and in a heap next to his coat and waistcoat on the floor. She tied it in a flat bow, hooking it under his collar, it sagging loosely down so the loops brushed either side of the second button on his shirt, tassels falling between the gap separating the second and third.

"Oh, I bought you these too." Lust held up a pair of new shoes- actually new- they were brown, and not boots at all, small and flat with rounded fronts, with pieces of thin black thread hanging out of them. This would be the first time his socks would be visible, not hidden by his shoes, being a pure white and so close to the ground there was no doubt in Pride's mind that unprotected they would become filthy once he set foot upstairs. Lust knelt down to slip them on his feet and tie small bows with the thread, keeping the shoes' sides secure and together. And that was everything it seemed, in little over an hour he had gone from almost content in sleeping for the rest of the day to being ready for his first trip upstairs in over thirty-six years (that was almost as much time as…), it wasn't that Pride had any desire to go back upstairs since there was nothing remotely interesting there, he'd been there four times already, but if Father had ordered it then he would do as he ordered without a thought of doing otherwise. With a smile that was more of a smirk Pride stepped around Lust and walked in the direction of the stairs that lead upstairs

"**Let's go, Lust" **Glancing back at her he saw her nod and follow behind him. As Pride passed by Father he bowed and nodded expectantly at Lust to do the same, scowling as she took more than a few seconds to listen to him. Climbing the stairs to the first landing Pride waited to Lust catch up, why was she taking so–

"Ah!" There was someone latched onto Lust's wrist, it looked like- "Envy, let go."

"Let me come with you, Lust." Envy almost hissed at her, glaring at both of them, Pride glared back, Father had _not _included Envy in his orders, why did he think he was permitted to go outside?

"**You have not been ordered to accompany us, Envy."**

"What does that matter? Father didn't say you could go either!" Such a feeble lie, who did Envy think he was?

"**I'd rather you didn't **_**lie**_** to your **_**older **_**brother. Let go of Lust."** Pride's scowl only deepened, teeth grinding slowly in his growing irritation, a slow stream of shadows seeping down the stairs, prepared to bind Envy's ankles should he continue to be stubborn.

"I'm not lying, Big Brother Pride. Just let me-"

"**Lying to cover a lie is even more shameful. How dare you behave so like a human, Envy." **By this time Envy was gritting his teeth as well, though flashing them at him due to his apparent lack of enough self control to keep them hidden. He was sparking too, like he was going to change shape into something. He heard Lust gasp and try more forcefully to pull herself away.

"Now Envy, there's no need to get upset, I'm sure that-"

"Enough." Father's voice was enough to silence them all, Pride instantly dragging his shadows back into himself and bowing even though Father's chair was facing away from them. "Do not quarrel between yourselves in my presence. Lust, both Envy and Pride can accompany you to speak with the Fuhrer. As Greed is sleeping he can stay here. I do not want to hear of any more conflict between siblings, do you understand?" Though they had all taken to freezing in place, they all mustered an 'Of course, Father', though obviously the one that was first and the most respectful was Pride's, who insisted in almost drowning out his siblings with his distorted tone. Envy seemed satisfied now, letting go of Lust's wrist and following them without another word, which was fine by Pride, Envy coming along too wasn't anything to be concerned over, even if he'd never been upstairs with anyone accompanying him and Lust before it was still fine, it didn't affect him in the least.

Even when Lust took hold of Envy's hand instead of his, that was fine too. It wasn't like he needed Lust holding his hand anyway, requiring such a thing was far too childish for someone like him.

Of course it was.

0 * 0 * 0

"How wonderful it is to meet you, I trust you wish to see my father. I'm Philippe, his second child." Lust stepped forward to shake his hand, Pride at one side and Envy- who had taken the form of a random, generic kind of soldier with short blonde hair- on the other. Pride waited for Envy to do the same; posing as a child he did not think it suitable for him to shake the human's hand second. Once Envy was done with his pointless introduction- calling himself Samuel this time for the charade's sake- Pride stepped closer with his sweetest fake smile and held out his hand happily

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Armstrong, being the Fuhrer's son must be really interesting."

"Yeah, it is quite a responsibility, I mean I'm only twenty-six and I'm still just a lieutenant colonel," Philippe motioned towards the strange row of stars and lines on his uniform's shoulders that Pride didn't understand the relevance of "but father already wants me to succeed him as Fuhrer one day, I hope I can be as great a Fuhrer as he is."

"Oh wow, well I'm sure you'll be great no matter what." the childish superfluous optimism of which Pride was expected came easily enough to him, and why should it not? He had been perfecting his act of being the most pure and perfect example of a child for almost ninety years, the possibility of him being anything but that in the presence of humans was nonexistent.

"Thank you, ummm…?" Getting so flustered over the fact that he had neglected to tell him his 'name'- how ridiculous.

"Selim, his name's Selim." Lust seemed to think it better to interrupt than let him answer for himself.

"Oh, well, thank you Selim. I've kept you all waiting long enough haven't I? I'll take you to my father's office now." With that he motioned for them to follow and turned on his heels.

The Fuhrer's office was a little less bland than the rest of the building, but that wasn't saying much, a mahogany desk and world map and a rug was hardly much of an improvement. Humans and their meager trappings of regality to make themselves feel more important- it was hilarious in a pitiable kind of way.

Behind the desk sat a particularly broad looking human with a large blond beard covering his collar and obscuring a good half of his face, it connecting up with an equally as large moustache. He also had a single strand of hair twisted into a tight curl in the centre of his forehead; he was talking to a much younger and much thinner man at his side who looked far less confident and full of himself- which might have been an improvement.

"That's Aloysius" Lust whispered in his ear "he's the one who was oh-so important thirty-three years ago that everyone here thought it was ok to not go to work." She laughed a little quietly, covering her mouth to stifle it "With everyone wanting to follow him like sheep it only made sense we make him Fuhrer, don't you think, Pride?" Pride nodded, it made sense why this Fuhrer seemed so arrogant, believing that he had rose through the ranks so fluidly by his own merit and skill rather than their interference- how foolish a thought. "I'm not sure who that is next to him though, we'd better make ourselves known before that guy makes himself too comfortable- he's only a…" Lust flicked her eyes to the side and squinted, trying to decipher his rank from the patterns on his shoulders "…Warrant Officer, far too unimportant to be listening in on _certain information._" Pride grinned and stepped forward, pushing onto the tips of his toes to see over the desk, staring up at the Fuhrer with a feigned curiosity.

"Ah, hello there." He looked past him towards Lust and Envy "and you two as well, good morning." He seemed to at least have enough common sense to not use any names with unimportant people listening. The other human peered over the desk to look at him too, smiling and walking closer, holding out his hand.

"Hello, you must be father's visitors. I'm Lewis, his second son, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Armstrong." only communicating with the Fuhrer's children did not create room for the most diverse or interesting conversation to say the least. Pride shook his hand happily, he liked introductions, they were all the same and required little altering to suit everyone he met. A few seconds passed before Pride decided to pull away, but Lewis didn't let go, and he put on his slightly-confused-yet-a-tiny-bit-hurt look, staring up at him. This human…he remembered him from somewhere, but he hadn't been upstairs since before he was even born…

When their eyes met Pride could see it, that same kind of strange familiarity and bewilderment that Pride could effortlessly conceal. Those eyes…he remembered that pale-ish blue, wide with surprise and curiosity, and a sudden terror that made them well up…

"_Yo**u-"**_

"Now Lewis, go and collect your mother and Adelaide for the _ceremony _in an hour, I know they're probably still getting ready but if they keep going they'll never stop." Aloysuis' voice and hearty chuckle at his own attempts at humour managed to drown out any of his warped whispering thank goodness, and Lewis nodded

"Well, I'd better be going," He reached to ruffle his hair, messing it up terribly; Pride did his best to keep smiling and pretend he didn't notice.

"See you later, Mr. Armstrong."

"You too." Lewis smiled again, before turning and walking on his way, briefly shaking hands with Lust and Envy as he left. As soon as the door clicked shut Pride let his charade drop, there was no point wasting time acting when the Fuhrer knew about them.

"Now, to business. Hello Lust, Envy, and…" Aloysius raised his eyebrow at him, as if confused by his presence having never seen him before. Pride only covered his mouth to stifle a laugh and allowed his shadows to pool on the floor. The Fuhrer seemed less affected than Pride would have anticipated at a human seeing his shadows.

"**Hello, Mister Fuhrer, I do not believe we've been acquainted before. Nice to meet you, my name is Pride." **

"Oh yes, yes of course, Pride, I have heard much about you, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I trust you have met my sons, your introductions to my wife and daughter can wait of course, we have much more important things to attend to."

"**Indeed we do." **Lust walked up past him and pulled herself onto the side of the desk, reaching to pluck out a large scroll of some sort from Aloysius' bookshelf with gently with her fingernails and spreading it out over the desk. She ushered them closer, Envy taking to sitting on the chair in front of the desk, returning to his preferred form while Pride stood at the left side (though his right) side of it.

"Do you want me to help you up, Pride?" Lust rolled up the paper and stretched out her hand for him, Pride shoved it away.

"_**No, **_**I am quite capable of sitting on the desk myself." **Without another word Pride dug his fingers into the desk and jumped, holding his weight on his arms in not the most dignified of manners, feet flailing a tad before they hooked on the top and managed to push him further on until he was splayed over it, before he rolled over and pushed himself up, sitting up and letting his legs dangle over the desks' edge- a refined air hung about him, as if he was quite pleased with himself, as if it was the most natural of ways to sit on a desk- it didn't matter if Envy was a hair's breadth away from a fit of laughter, he was just lazy and would rather sit on a chair meant for humans to sit on. Lust stared at him for a moment, and forced a cough

"Anyway, as you can see…" Lust reopened the scroll, on it was a strange flat picture of something Pride didn't know "Amestris has come a long way since it was founded two-hundred and odd years ago, and as such the government and the monarchy before it, under our Father's guidance you have accomplished much, becoming a country adequate in all fields, alchemy, literature, medicine." Oh, it was a map of Amestris, Pride had never given thought to what the country looked like "But in return you have pledged loyalty to us, and must do your utmost to fulfill Father's goal." She pointed at one point on the picture, near to the top of Amestris' boundaries, Pride couldn't read it exactly, only being able to read a few Rs and Es "In 1558 the first King of Amestris, King Christopher, took it upon himself to declare war on the neighboring country of Reviere, at least it seemed this way, Father instructed him long before this that he should spill blood upon certain areas, Riviere just happened to occupy this space. But Christopher was old by this time- a grand old age of seventy-four, so his son went in his place- Christopher II, and lost his life supporting what he believed to be his father's ambition- his younger brother William taking the throne when the king died from grief some two years later. As none of us present here today were alive to bear witness to this event certain details can never be certain, but it doesn't matter anyway, what is done is done. The most recent crest of blood was formed over one hundred years ago now, conducted by King Bartholomew in 1661 by instigating a civil war in the country of Cameron, he was the sixth king remember." she tapped at another point lower down on the opposite side. "This took place more than a decade before I was born, but Pride was alive back then, do you remember anything about it, Pride?" With a little jump at suddenly being asked such a question Pride stared blankly at her, he could hardly remember anything from before he got his container, so he only shook his head slowly, and she turned her attention back to the Fuhrer "You only have one-hundred-and-forty eight years to get _eight _more crests of blood formed, it is _your _obligation to do so, we have nurtured this nation since its inception, you must remain loyal to us or…well I'd rather not go into that, do you understand?"

"I understand perfectly, Miss Lust, I will always remain loyal to your Father, you need not worry about that. Now then…" Aloysuis reached into his jacket and pulled out a peculiar something Pride hadn't seen before "Oh look at the time, it's time for the Ceremony."

"Ceremony?" Envy spoke up

"Why yes, today is the 35th anniversary of the 'official' forming of the government, we've employed the great-grandson of the esteemed portrait painter J R _Arderne_, having apparently inherited his great grandfather's talent. He is going to paint a portrait of the building and all its employees, I bet Adelaide and Blanche are out there already, Blanche turned… fifty-five last month, and Adelaide's going to be thirty-two this September, she's grown up so fast… time certainly flies, doesn't it?"

"Oh really, that's only a few months earlier than Greed's birthday, he'll be fifty-five too this June." Envy seemed amused that Greed and the Fuhrer's wife could share a birth year of all things.

"I'd be honoured if you were to attend the ceremony with us, no one will think anything amiss, many soldiers have brought their families, even extended families so you won't be noticed, please I insist." Pride wasn't sure what to make of the proposal; he had never been in a picture before, and he was so perfect an actor that there was no possibility of anyone becoming suspicious of him in any way.

"**I don't see how it could hurt any, Mister Fuhrer, if anything it will be able to show our closeness, even in secret, to the government."**

"Splendid. The ceremony will start in about ten minutes, so I'll leave you to prepare." The Fuhrer offered his hand again "it is still a great pleasure to finally meet the eldest of Father's children, Pride." Pride only smiled, and stretched out a shadowed hand instead, pointed tips no doubt making tiny scratches in his palm, but what did it matter? The humans would never say a word against them, they relied on them far too much, without Father's guidance they would have destroyed themselves long ago, and even if Pride would have been content in them killing each other through their own idiocy, for the time being they still had a purpose as the pawns in Father's game- and that was more important than anything else.

0 * 0 * 0

"Wow, you're the one who's going to paint us all in a second? You must be amazing if you can do that." Pride happily bounced around on the balls of his feet as talked to the descendant of that famous 'Arderne'.

"Aw don't flatter me that much, I only try my best, I'm really honoured to be painting this just for the Fuhrer, I can't believe it, I guess my great-grandfather being who he was helped me get this job, so I'm really hoping I can become even half as good as he was." Pride just kept nodding and smiling, only half listening, he was bored already and he would get nothing but drivel from this human.

"Oh, I have to go now, good luck." And he ran back to Lust with nary a backward glance. As he pattered towards where Envy and Lust were talking amongst themselves he spotted the Fuhrer talking to two women, one who was rather short and round wearing an illustrious dress- no doubt that 'Blanche' person, and the other… that woman who was probably Adelaide…

She was wearing a pale yellow cardigan – though he first saw it as a faded pink for some reason… with a matching yellow skirt- but he saw it as white instead…

That thing in his head popped again, twice in one day Pride had no patience for it

_Iris?_

**You again….**

_You say it as if you don't want me to exist…you're the one who keeps me here, I only whisper things to myself…you don't need to respond to them…eventually you won't hear me anymore. She just…reminded me of someone…_

**That's quite pathetic, wondering if someone you knew back in Xerxes was still alive from over two-hundred years ago…**

_Ha, you actually think I'm from Xerxes, quite the opposite. Besides, Xerxian is Xerxian, how would I know Amestrian if I was from Xerxes? But I know where I'm not wanted, I'll go…_

A few moments later Pride was at Lust's side, waiting as everyone began to get into position for the painting and attempting to fit everyone on the not _that _big canvas. Envy had taken to having black hair but was still deciding on the style and eye colour, wearing an elegant black suit with a dark blue tie.

"Ready." At the signal Lust pulled him closer and rested her hand on his shoulder, Envy grinned and changed himself to suit his whim again, settling for a short black ponytail tied with a ribbon, as they were posing as a family Envy had been assigned the role of the father, and as such tried to softly pat at his head and smile down at him, soft, fake green eyes meeting with his own, green eyes and black hair, that was-

Something whined, a long, dejected whine made by someone who wanted to cry but couldn't...wasn't able to anymore

_I wonder if…I would've looked like that, if I hadn't…_

Despite not being able to see it Pride felt the very obvious shudder that shot through it.

**I thought you said you'd leave me alone**

_I did, and I told you to ignore me, don't bother about me, I wasn't talking to you that time, or any of the times, if anything-_

"Pride you've gone as white as a sheet, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong with me, Lust, I just…I don't wish to spend any more time amongst these humans for today." Lust gave him that look that Pride knew meant she didn't believe him, but she sighed and shook her head

"I think there is, let me see" she tilted his head to face her and tried to open his eyes wider, but slipped and pulled the skin beside them until he was squinting, the way she gasped and flinched and immediately let go of him confused Pride to no end, but she swept it under the carpet like it never happened. "Fine, come on, we'll go back the way we came since everyone's out here anyway." Adopting her faux role as a mother she gripped onto his hand as they slipped away, not letting go until they were out of sight, but it was her fault for assuming something was wrong in the first place, Pride saw no justification for her annoyance whatsoever.

The walk down back to their home was never very interesting, but Lust and Envy were used to it by now, Pride, who had only been through the corridor seven times or so both ways was less than amused, especially with the length of his container's legs requiring him to take two steps for every one of theirs, effectively making him walk twice as far as them.

"So…do you think that guy'll start planning the next place to attack soon?"

"I wouldn't count on it, Envy, last time Father was planning it for decades and it took another few decades or so for it actually to happen, so I wouldn't rely on the humans to do anything quick, they'd rather wait to retire or die and let it be someone else's problem."

"Oh, but we still have-" Loud, frantic footsteps interrupted him, and the three paused to see what it was, Lust showing her nails and Pride scattering his shadows on the floor, while Envy had to wait since nothing he imitated would work against something he didn't know. It was someone tall, with short black hair and…

It was only Greed- a particularly jittery and worn out looking Greed- but still just Greed.

"What's wrong with you, Greed?"

"Give a guy time… to breathe…" Greed kept pausing for breath, seemingly having not stopped running "Well… um…while you were gone…some crazy… shit's been… happening… I can't' really…explain it in a sentence, and Father wanted you to come back…. so he sent me to get you and…yeah…don't just stand there lookin' at me like that he wants you to hurry up!" Lust and Envy nodded, walking slightly quicker but not too quick while Greed caught his breath, but Pride stayed completely still. Not hearing his pattering little footsteps she turned around.

"Pride you heard Greed, Father wants to see us." The littler homunculus smirked and shook his head, feet still planted firmly in place

"**I'm not coming with you, well I am but…" **Pride's eyes clouded a tad and slid shut, mouth sagging into an emotionless line as more shadows poured out his feet** "I can move faster than you this way. I'll go on ahead to see what has happened." **Without listening to their answer Pride forged ahead, streaming along the floor and walls, across the ceiling, down stairs, all three- four- five magenta eyes set in determination, the slightest bit curious about what could have possibility occurred in his absence, and to do what was expected of him as a dutiful son and arrive promptly back home at Father's behest.

What kind of child of Father's would he be if he didn't do his best to arrive there first?

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Oh. My. God. This chapter got waaayyy out of hand didn't it? Sorry for making you guys read so much, I have no idea what happened with that first scene ;_;

Hmm…some 'crazy shit' is going on I guess, wonder what it is… *so not totally obvious, no siree…*

Anyway, so more book stealing on my part, The History of little Goody Two-Shoes was written anonymously and published in April 1765 with a new edition being released in 1768, I actually read a few chapters of it when writing this chapter and it was really interesting, especially since in the book they used a weird kind of letter that is used in the beginning or middle of a word for a lowercase 's' like this- ſ, so the first passage from chapter one looks like this-

"Care and diſcontent ſhortened the Days of Little Margery's Father.- He was forced from his Family, and ſeized with a violent Fever in a place where Dr James's powder was not to be had, and where he died miſerably."

,

Just thought it was cool, it kinda confused me at first but after a while I figured out it was supposed to be an s ^^;.

The lullaby that Miles sang to himself (and previously sung by Lust in chapter 14, though not mentioned explicitly) is a poem written by Thomas Dekker in 1603, here's the full version-

Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,  
Smiles awake you when you rise;  
Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,  
And I will sing a lullaby,  
Rock them, rock them, lullaby.  
Care is heavy, therefore sleep you,  
You are care, and care must keep you;  
Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,  
And I will sing a lullaby,  
Rock them, rock them, lullaby.

Being the only lullaby I could find from before 1662, when Luna and her parents immigrated from Xing, I thought it would probably be the first lullaby that Luna would learn in Amestrian I would think that it would be important to her and that she would sing it to Miles when he was young too. Its popularity would also mean that there was a possibility of Lust hearing of the poem as well.

I do sorta feel bad for Miles now, with Sylvie starting to go crazy (I assume she got better at handling it as time went by) and him being alone and having to deal with her is starting to take its toll on him, though he's the only one who can keep his sense of self that doesn't necessary mean that he can automatically remain sane, and being constantly conscious except for forcing himself 'asleep' really mustn't have the best effect on him…even if he likes to think that he has no bitterness over what happened to him I imagine that really a part of him must resent Pride, and that all his optimism is to make himself feel better about all the terrible things Pride has done using his body.

Anyway, I've been thinking of trying to get a chapter out a week since it's gonna be half term soon, but I don't know if I'll be able to, I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.


	39. Expanding Horizons

I finished this yesterday, but decided to not let me log in again, so here it is today instead x_x Happy Valentine's day to everyone for tomorrow by the way ^_^ As usual I've cut a scene because I was worried about the chapter getting out of hand again, so it'll be included in next chapter like always ^^;

Previous reviewers-

Muddy wolf-

Well the crazy shit's all revealed here, I'm actually happy it wasn't *that obvious* ^^

Ah yes, Pride's still being annoying, I guess he can't be not irritating due to his smugness, even when Father scolds them all he thinks the others are more to blame of course -.-

I'm still happy my portrayal of Greed's going well, I've really warmed up to him as I've been writing this, so I'm glad it's still good ^_^ Oh, yeah, Envy's attention seeking-ness with wanting to tag along with Lust and Pride, even if Pride didn't handle it in the best way ^^;

Yes, pearl buttons are very suspicious, it's a good thing Lust caught that and changed them or else it might've not worked out as well ^^; Yeaaah, Pride's shortness made him a failure at climbing on the desk and making a right fool of himself, even though he pretended it all went fine ^^ Yeah, Envy's more 'meh', he can sit on a chair because it's there rather than going out of his way ^^

Well, it has been a hundred years since the last crest of blood was formed, and they still have 8 left to make it isn't exactly like they have all the time in the world, she needs to push them a little to make them try harder XD yes, poor Armstrong, his bad wedding timing landed him the Fuhrer job and all its secret obligations XD 

Again, sorry for the chapter being a bit late, but it wasn't laziness on my part this time ^_^;;

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Thirty-Nine: Expanding Horizons **

The sight that met Pride as he slinked down the stairs, continuing to stretch the single thick strand of shadow from his container, was one of the most peculiar he had witnessed, considering what he had been expecting. In Greed's incapability to describe what had occurred succinctly, rather resorting to using expletives, Pride had been left unprepared for what he was to discover, though he would have liked to believe that nothing would be so unusual as to render him speechless, which it did.

Father was standing next to…something, something large and hunched over, pieces of metal wrapped around its legs, or were those its wrists..? There was a large hole in the wall beside it, pieces of stone crumbling down from the top and sides as it cracked further. Father said something to it that Pride couldn't catch, and he forced himself closer, more eyes bubbling up to the surface of the shadow, as if to help him see better.

"**Father, Greed informed me that something had happened, but not specifically what. If I may…" **Father didn't turn around, or even make any movement that implied he was aware of his presence, but spoke anyway

"While you were absent I created another homunculus, his name is Sloth. He is…slightly different than I anticipated, but I am sure he will be a very valuable aid to achieve our goals in the future. Though he has a very large build, he is capable of moving at a speed that cannot be detected by humans, and it was in his haste that he caused this damage to the wall. To ensure this does not occur again I have secured him to the floor for now." By now Pride had trickled further across the floor, reaching Father's side as little more than a small quivering puddle with a slightly thinner line trailing behind it, five reddish-pink eyes staring up at him, flickering a little. "Introduce yourself to your brother, Pride."

"**Of course, Father" **without a word or thought otherwise Pride solidified his body somewhat, forcing himself higher, until the pointed tip of his shadow was in line with Sloth's face. Sloth was rather…peculiar, if Pride were to assign a particular word to describe his new sibling. His teeth were small and sharp, pointed and triangular, nothing like his own, in his shadow or container, like Greed's in their distinct inhuman nature. Long black hair- longer than his container's but short looking on because of his size- fell over his forehead in strands like Envy's did, as if he had certain features similar to show his relation to them. But his eyes were unlike anything Pride had seen or grown to associate as eyes, well, almost, small and blank, without pupil or iris or anything of colour, nothing like his or any of the others, more like the eyes of that deformed little horse-rat chimera those years ago, but what that said about his new sibling was far too absurd to be true or mean anything.

"**Hello there, Sloth. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Pride, your eldest sibling." **at the sound of his voice his much larger sibling seemed to jump a little, as if startled, and he slowly focused on his shadow, even more slowly raising his up shadow until Sloth's two eyes (though one seemed to be covered up by the peculiar location of a node) met his five.

"WHO…ARE…YOU? YOU'RE…NOT…FATHER. I DON'T…KNOW YOU." Sloth moved his head as he spoke, as if he couldn't decide which eye he should focus on. For his sake Pride forced three of the eyes away, leaving one at either side of his tendril, teeth lining the bottom of it and trailing down along the edge.

"**No, I'm not Father; I'm your brother, Pride."** Sloth tried to raise his hand as slow as ever, as if curious of him, but the chain connecting him to the floor clinked at being pulled tight, and he lowered it back down with the same kind of lethargic lack of effort.

"PRIDE? THAT'S…A WORD." Pride didn't know how to react to such an obvious yet ridiculous statement, eyes squinting and yet expanding in their own way.

"**That may be so but it is also my name, and the sin which I was created to possess, as much as yours is Sloth." **His younger sibling's unchanging expression did nothing in the way of convincing Pride that he understood what he was talking about.

"OH…OK, PRIDE." before Pride had chance to say anything else he noticed the sound of footsteps, and his eyes faded to reappear elsewhere in his shadow, catching sight of Lust and Greed and Envy, Greed smiling widely at the former two's reactions to Sloth and the hole in the wall.

"See, see, pretty _crazy _eh? At least Pops's got him chained up now so he doesn't go breaking any more of our stuff, a few more feet to the left and we'd have no rooms left." Lust seemed to scoff quietly- not that Pride heard it but assumed as much with the way she covered her mouth whilst doing so.

"Don't be so pessimistic Greed, we all know you love your possessions but it's not like he would've even reached your room, the hole he made ain't even that deep." Envy's head tilted as he examined Sloth from afar, jumping off the first landing down the stairs to try and get a better look. But he shrugged.

"Heh, he ain't so awesome. Nothing to make a big deal out of."

"Like you were any kinda of awesome either Envy, more like _awful._" Lust decided to speak up lest a quarrel erupt; she still seemed to have _some _sense at the very least.

"You should at least be happy you aren't the youngest anymore, Envy." She was holding something, cradling it almost, strips of black oozing out from its feet, across the floor-oh, it was his container, leaning limp against her shoulder in its disuse, softly breathing through its mouth while he didn't need to breathe in his shadows, breathing for him. Why had she moved it when he hadn't instructed her to do so?

Sloth didn't take any notice of them at first, until they started to walk closer it was as if he couldn't see them, or didn't know they were alive. Lust smiled shrewdly at him, setting his container down gently, splayed out onto his shadow pouring out of it, calm and peaceful, as if only sleeping.

"Just thought I'd save you time walking it back, wouldn't want you passed out halfway from home 'til tomorrow now, would we?" Pride only gave her a 'hmm', she wasn't being sincere about it, only bringing it with her to subvert his wish to remain for it to where he had left it, just to undermine him like she always did. Pride watched Sloth stare at his container, seeing its vague resemblance in shape to his siblings but unmoving had surely confused him in someway given his…level of intelligence.

"WHAT IS...WHO IS THAT…?" his leaned slightly, tips of his oversized fingers brushing against his container's hair, thumb as big at his head, the links of the chain falling over his neck, though being disconnected from his container for so long the cold of it was so muted he hardly felt it. Lust decided she could do at better job at answering him than he would.

"Oh, that's just Pride's retai-_container_, kinda like a vass—_vessel, _never mind, it's nothing to worry yourself over, Sloth, he's just…sleeping right now." Pride scowled a little at Lust's mixing of words- she was going to confuse Sloth more than ever

"SLEEPING…? SOUNDS…GOOD."

"Oh, where are my manners? My name's Lust, nice to meet you." Envy and Greed followed suit with their introductions, Greed teasing a little with a 'youngest first', though Envy- rather simple creature he was- was rather oblivious to Greed's more subtle cutting remarks, and happily accepted it, stepping forward and shaking Sloth's hand with the equally large, deformed, clawed green one of his true form, to which Sloth saw nothing amiss with.

Content and seeing no point in remaining outside his container any longer, Pride softened himself, melting onto the floor in a puddle, pooling around his container, huddling around the wisps that connected him to it, bleeding through his new shoes and visible socks and his skin until only his natural shadow would remain. But no sooner had he returned to his container and he slowly regained control of it he was being lifted up, non-too gently, more forceful in its attempts to prevent him from resisting, more the disorientation that came with moving so soon after returning to his container that prevented him from doing so. He could see those strips of black and crimson stripes- it was far too obvious who it was.

"**L—Lust, what are you doing?" **She was smiling coyly down at him, pretending of course.

"You're tired; I'm putting you to bed, sleeping on the floor's no good for you." him in her arms like this, gazing up through blurry eyes, he didn't remember the last time she'd held, carried him, he didn't want to remember.

"**I'm not—"** At a sudden deep booming sound and matching tremor Pride flinched a little, and she pressed him closer to her.

"Don't worry. Sloth's just decided to have a lie down; never you mind, I'm sure he's only sleeping." He weakly pulled away from the hand she'd placed on his cheek, forcing a weaker scowl

"…I'm not tired." a faded shadow crossed his face as she carried him through the corridor to her room, away from Envy and Greed and Sloth and Father, he didn't mind sleeping on the floor, he'd never minded, even if Lust slept in her own bed again these days, Lust's bed was…undeniably comfortable, but he'd never prefer it over the floor of Father's room, never. Still, Lust pulled back the silk sheets of her bed covers, laying him down on the mattress and wrapping him up in them, tight enough so that he wouldn't be able to move well, but comforting in a strange sort of way.

"You were planning on sleeping in today anyway, so you must have been tired, isn't that right?" part of him wanted to protest, tell Lust how absurd she was being, letting him sleep in anything other than his nightgown, that he wasn't tired at all. "Today's just one of those lazy days, Pride. Get some rest." And then she was gone, leaving him alone, as if she was quite pleased with herself at forcing him to go to sleep, when it was only a side effect of not being perfect at leaving his container over long distances yet, if he kept sleeping afterwards he'd never improve. Still, travelling such a distance was bound to put a slight strain on his container, and forming teeth and so many eyes too…it was no wonder he was… rather exhausted.

Pride's feeble protest only voiced itself as a quiet yawn, and his attempts to move only served to waste whatever was left of his energy. Enveloped in his little silk cocoon, Pride reluctantly, albeit a faked reluctance that came with stubbornness, drifted to sleep.

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**May 30th 1767**

Sloth was sleeping. Sloth liked sleeping; he stayed out the way when asleep so no one really minded it. But something was a little off; he didn't see the purpose of Sloth, all of his siblings had a purpose, a role in Father's plan- Lust and Greed were there to help cause disruptions when the time came, Envy could imitate other people to instigate chaos and disorder, and he—he had a purpose too, of course he did.

The small little sin was curled up beside Father's table, knees to his chest, brooding a little, trying to simultaneously work out Sloth's purpose and weave a lie of one for his own, though the latter he believed so much he didn't realize he'd be deceiving himself. A shadow passed over him, a faint light accompanying it, and the atmosphere changed so suddenly that Pride tensed, and craned his neck upwards.

"Good afternoon, Pride." Thinking it inappropriate Pride crawled around Father and pushed himself to his feet, bowing as soon as he'd balanced properly.

"**Good afternoon, Father." **Father hadn't been sleeping as much now, but he still looked somewhat weary, little wrinkles collecting underneath his eyes, but that was still perfect, Father was always perfect.

"There is something I wish to discuss with you." Without another word Father returned to sit in his chair, Pride padding after him. Pride was happy to stand in Father's presence, bowing yet again as he had been taught to do since the moment he learned to stand unsupported.

"As you are aware, a month has passed since Sloth was created," Pride nodded, the detached term that Father used in regards to them not affecting him in the least "I believe we must start preparing for his role in my plans." Pride didn't know what this had to do with him but he listened attentively nonetheless, Father had discussed Envy with him, the fact that Father wished to actually discuss things with him was enough… "You know my intention is to create a transmutation circle that will encompass the country when That Day arrives; I must begin creating that circle now to ensure it will be ready for that time. And for that I need Sloth, to dig the circle underground, so the humans will not discover it. However, Sloth may not be able to remember where he must dig" the fact that even Father acknowledged Sloth's rather simple nature made Pride frown a little, but Father was smiling, and stood up "and that is why I need _you_, to direct him, to watch over the tunnel, and to dispose of any humans that may discover it in the future." Father's hands were on his shoulders, and he was smiling at him, because he actually needed _him _for something, and him alone. Pride needed nothing else to form a sincere grin, so delighted and proud to be of use to him somehow.

"However, there is something we must attend to so you will be able to do as I have instructed. Your body being only a container you are unable to travel for from the heart of Central lest you perish." At the mention of the weakness that had plagued him since the moment he was born Pride wilted a little, pulling away and hanging his head, he didn't deserve to be so close to Father with such a glaring inadequacy. How could be possibly be of use to Father if he couldn't leave Central, never mind monitor the tunnel that would one day cover Amestris entirely? How could he be of use to Father with such flaws? It was shameful. Father quirked an eyebrow at him "How old are you now, Pride?" It had been his birthday nine days ago, Father hadn't called any attention to it so Pride thought it not important, he didn't need to be noticed every time he had a birthday, it was fine.

"**I'm…One-hundred and seventy-seven now, Father." **Pride liked to think his voice wasn't lined with shame and disappointment, even if he knew it would be, in Father's presence it was unacceptable to be so weak minded. Father shook his head with another crack of a smile, stepping closer.

"There is nothing to worry about, Pride, I shall do my utmost to allow you to travel where you are to instruct Sloth to dig without the possibility of dying. I'm certain that as you become older I will be able to expand your… 'border' even further. Now, stay still." Father lay his hand against Pride's head softly, to which the younger homunculus grinned again, but closed his eyes as the familiar fizzing of alchemic sparks filled his head. The sorely missed intense warmth that only came with Father's alchemy – but not an ounce of it painful, Father would never hurt him- pooled in his head, trickling down, bleeding into every inch of his container with the same rippling warmth, and out into the floor. Then it was over, a certain hollowness filling the void the warmth left in its wake. "That is all I can do for now, I will expand it again when you are older." Father pulled away, but the empty, hollow distant feeling caused him to crumble, he was falling, arms not responding, but Father caught him, and pulled him close against his stomach, carrying on as if nothing had happened "You can now move within half the size of the current area of Central, as well as within the transmutation tunnel," Pride was shaking, whatever side effect came with having the area where he was capable of living in expanded making his shadows sluggish- too sluggish to even move his container, but Father only held him, like he had been anticipating such a thing "I have provided you with an image of it in your mind's eye- do you see it?" he nodded against Father's robe, there was a clear, vivid circle with two pentagons contained inside it, one upside down- a single line connected the centre of the circle to one corner or the first pentagon, to allow him to reach where the circle was to start. "You must remain inside this at all times, in your container as well as when you are moving your shadows over long distances. If you travel beyond this, or use any tunnels outside the one that will serve to allow you to travel to and from the main tunnel, you will die." He shuddered at the thought, even if Father wasn't that explicit about it he knew what he meant, not die and use the souls in his Philosopher's stone to remain alive, _die_, and cease to exist if he even set foot outside of his barrier. Pride would never be so foolish as to do such a thing, but at least he could travel further now, travel further and be useful to Father.

Everything felt slow and strange and far away, a feeble throbbing fizzed under his skin, shadows twitching irritably as they reconnected with his container, but he still was cold and too pathetically weak to stand, disoriented and unsettled in Father's arms, while Father still didn't mind and didn't let him fall, because Father loved him, would always love him. And for that Pride would remain always remain loyal and obedient, and would always do his utmost to please him.

Now that Pride had a true purpose nothing else really mattered outside performing it impeccably, as he had always done, and always would do- it was the only thing he could do to ensure Father would always love him.

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**July 3rd 1767**

"I am entrusting you with one of the most important aspects of my plan, Pride, I expect perfection from both you and Sloth." Today was a day of especial importance, to the extent that Pride bowed for the fifth time in the last three minutes, bending a knee a little in his uncertainly to bow _that far_- though it would have been a much warranted thing in regards to his creator to say the least.

"**I will carry out your wish with such perfection, Father; I would never do anything less than that for what you desire of me." **Pride glanced over at Envy and Greed who were doing their best to try to wake Sloth, who had slept through the majority of his month and a bit of existing**, **Father had severed his chains a while ago, but decided to keep the remnants of them around his wrists as a reminder of what had happened, and he considered them aesthetically pleasing in their own way as well.

"I do not expect you do be away for more than a day, but in the event of something hindering you I have provided you with the necessaries- milk, water, bread, etcetera." Father handed him a medium sized cloth in a bundle, tied at the top "I fed Sloth more than he would require yesterday so you should not need to feed him for a few days, though I want you to bring him back with you when you return to make him used to coming home- once he knows where to dig impeccably he can dig unsupervised for periods of time, so as to allow you to rest on occasion."

"**Father…forgive my forwardness, but will it not be complete darkness under the earth, how will I be able to see, or form my shadows?"**

"It is in hand as we speak, Pride. Though Sloth can see to an acceptable level underground, Lust has purchased and constructed the receptacles for candles and whatnot so as to allow you to take a light source with you." Pride disregarded the inquiry in an instant; he had no reason to question Father for anything. "As for creating sources of light yourself while you are gone, I will provide you with these." Father handed him a small bottle, like one that contained ink, but it was filled with a clear liquid that looked like water, and several sheets of paper stained yellow "the bottle contains sulfur, and the paper has been coated with phosphorus, when these react together they will create a flame, for which you shall use to light a candle." Pride nodded, putting the bottle into his pocket, carefully folding the paper and doing the same "You will also need these," Next Father gave him a bundle of wood splinters, each about three times the size of his hand, bigger than his pockets he was sure "dip the tip of the splinter into the sulfur, then draw it across the paper, do you understand?" Pride only nodded, tucking the bundle into the gap between the back of his belt and his shorts, and failing that into the back of his shorts outright – they were slightly too big for him anyway.

"Here we go." Lust called to him from afar, carrying two things, neither which he could discern from the slowly closing distance between them. "Broke a thimble and three needles for you y'know, you'd better appreciate this." She knelt down and set the first object on the floor, it was a lantern, with a dark blue frame and four windows, a small handle on the top. "Now, here are three candles for that, keep them in your pockets. And then there's this…" she set down something else- it was a little circular glass box, with a small door on the front encased in bronze. Either side of it were leather things that looked like belts, or halves of the same belt. Inside the box was a small cylinder of a candle, light already lit and flickering. "Now this might get warm and burn you so take it off if it gets too hot, ok?" She tied it around his head, pushing his fringe down in front of his eyes, tightening it so it didn't slip down. "And five small candles for that too, don't lose them." It was quite obvious that the smaller candles were one of the lantern candles cut into five pieces, but Pride didn't comment on it, putting the spare candles all together inside the lamp, latching it shut. Lust undid his belt, retying it once she threaded the lantern's handle through it.

The ground shook a tad, Sloth waking up

"Eh yup, careful big guy, any slower and you'll fall asleep again, and end up crushing Envy, who gives a clumsy guy like you big thick heely-shoes like that? Oh never mind, yer awake now." Sloth groaned something as he lumbered towards Father, like he didn't recognize or even notice Greed and Envy.

"FATHER? STILL… SLEEPY."

"You've slept for long enough now, Sloth, I have a task for you. Pride will accompany you. When you have completed your task you will be allowed to sleep." Pride brushed his shorts off and stood straighter, eyes meeting with Lust's as he unwillingly murmured a quiet 'thank you' to her, not bothering to see her expression as he turned away and walked back to Father. He was all prepared for his mission underground, and he would supervise his dull witted brother flawlessly, like he was expected to do.

Father led them away to elsewhere in his lair, looking down at him with another faint something that looked like a smile; Pride's smile wavered a little with the vibrations running up through his container from Sloth's drowsy trudging steps. Father had expectations, and had entrusted him with such an important part of his plans, giving him such a precious responsibility, he was Father's favourite child for a reason- he was the most dedicated, the most loyal, it was only right he be the one to accompany Sloth for such, and so he padded along at Father's side, ribbon bookmarker serving as a bow drooped and lantern swaying on his waist as he went, smile never fading in the slightest.

Because, whether he was aware of it or not, Pride yearned, longed, languished for even the tiniest glint of love and affection from Father, and it was that deep, secret, insatiable lust for that which he would never have what made him willing to do anything, no matter how hazardous or unreasonable, even if it meant that Pride couldn't possess a single speck of pride in himself, it didn't matter if it ended up being beneficial to Father. Nothing mattered besides that.

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Yay, Sloth, I love Sloth I really do, he's so adorable, I know lots of people don't like him but I want to try and make him a little more likable in my fic, especially in his scenes next chapter. So yay, you have more of my heavy handed fluff to look forward to XD

See you all on the 26th ^^


	40. A New, but no less Monotonous Routine

End of halfterm now, great, just managed to get this done AGAIN. Cut a scene AGAIN. But I managed to draw an accompanying pic for this chapter on my deviantart so it's all good ^_^

Previous reviewers-

Moofy-fan

Yes, Miles wormed his way back, not too good for mee as usual, but since I wanted to ret-con his ability to remain sane, since I thought his cheeriness and saneness in chapter 30 couldn't have been the way he always was, given I think his optimism is more often than not a put on to keep himself from going completely insane.

Yeah, I'm glad I made Sloth kinda likeable ^^ I love the way he talks in the Japanese version since it's just so basic and cute, which is why I hate the articulateness of his English voice since it's completely against the point of his character -_- Oh, well he only has the chains around his wrists, Pride just mistook his arms and legs from a distance ^^

Not my fault, I just got to thinking that Pride'd been doing nothing for over 100 years and must make himself think he has a purpose to think he's of use to Father ;_;

Violetlight

Aw, no, all the homunculi except Pride can go anywhere they want, like when they went with Gluttony to Xerxes to eat the evidence there. Pride can't go outside Central or the tunnels from what Hohoenheim said when Pride attacked him, something like 'if you go outside the heart of Central or this tunnel you'll die, just like back in that flask', though he still thought Pride was Father when he said that so his accuracy can't really be 100%, unless he's a brilliant guesser.

Muddywolf

Yeah, I wanted to show how Lust and Pride are still drifting apart, with her being impudent but doing innocent enough things to not rouse suspicion. Yay for tons of light sources, I always thought that people didn't become super involved in the homunculi's business until a little later, probably after Greed left or something. ^^; 

Well, that's not really a reason I made up completely, since that's the situation Arakawa said happened when Sloth was born and how he got the things around his wrists ^^ and about Envy being offended, Pride being an unreliable narrator he probably doesn't think Envy's smart enough to get it due to his sloping downwards respect for the younger homunculi.

Of course of course, Pride isn't sensible enough to even consider that Father hasn't any good use for him, and while I feel sorry for him his delusion is just so bad it's probably better he doesn't realize/

Yay, I'm happy you liked Sloth so far, hopefully I've done an ok-ish job with him this chapter too ^^

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Forty: A New, but no less Monotonous Routine**

It was dark. Dark and cold underground, the square of light of the opening felt so distant, even if right above him. Lust and Greed and Envy were crouched down at its edges, having followed behind him and Father when they decided they wanted to involve themselves in a most useless way, staring down at him more than they were at Sloth (who was facing away aimlessly and doing nothing in particular), all of them grinning.

"Father dug yer a straight tunnel, thirty-foot or somethin', as a template, to get yer started y'know? Wasn't that nice of him?" Greed smiled and pushed his glasses further up his nose, but Envy sneered and chuckled and felt the need to interrupt.

"Not really dug of course, just made some stone pillars to force the dirt out, the digging's a job for you and Sloth." Envy pushed at the slab of stone to seal the hole up, but Lust leant against it to gently discourage him.

"We'll leave this open so you can throw the soil out, ok?" Pride nodded, hugging the cloth of food to his stomach, having no place to store it outside holding it- _something else _had been that way long ago, and that only led to the most humiliating thing, but it was absurd to even consider him being the same as he was back then.

"Right, we'll leave you two to it then." With a pretend sickeningly-sweet wave each they disappeared, gossiping amongst themselves as they wandered off to do whatever. It didn't matter; at least _he _had a job he had been instructed to do by Father, and was about to begin it impeccably, such a thing was only natural for any child to do for their parent. Sloth was still standing and doing nothing by the time Pride reached him, preferring to remain a few feet behind, it was better for him to stay and direct Sloth from a distance. Still, the absence of anyone with a speck of intelligence bit at him with its frigidity again, and Pride quashed a tiny shiver, and like he so often unconsciously did, tried to distract himself, but not content with the lighting at the moment he settled for assessing his attire for anything that needed correcting due to Lust's inadequacy. He loosened his belt and slid the lantern off the thread slowly, setting it down on the floor with the same gentleness, examining his bundle of food now, knowing it would be difficult carry both efficiently while instructing Sloth to dig. The cloth was full of what Father had said, of course it was, a small glass bottle of water, a similar sized bottle of milk, warm to the touch- Father probably knew how cold it would be down here, and had prepared him for such, his container wouldn't function as well if it got too cold. There was half a small round loaf of bread too, and an apple, and something…orange, round and orange with little dents in it, Pride knew Father wouldn't give him anything that would effect him negatively, so he only assumed it to be another fruit and left it at that, pushing it into his right pocket along with the apple and the two bottles, wrapping the bread back up and tying it around his belt in place of the lantern. His head-lamp's spare candles were quickly shoved into his other pocket along with the rest of them.

The quietest of sighs escaped Pride without him meaning it to as he pulled the unlit candle out of the lantern and held it to his headlamp, waiting for it to light, setting it back in position immediately after it had done so, latching the door shut. Content with the lighting now, Pride stood up, shadows pooling at his feet, flowing along the ground (it was certainly a…_different _sensation, not travelling over stone or carpet or marble, bittier, soft and grainy and not really that pleasant to be traversing as smoothly as he could, shadows filling the tiny gaps between each piece of dirt) and close to the front of his youngest sibling, knowing Sloth he'd already fallen asleep standing up.

"**Sloth, are you awake? We have work to do." **

"YES, AM AWAKE, PRIDE."

"**Good. Then walk." **He let his shadows nip teasingly as Sloth's heels, grinning at his delayed gasp at the pain before he trudged forward, chains trailing as he went. A minute or two wore on and Pride walked at a rather casual pace so as to not overtake Sloth's horrendously sluggish pace, more than six of Pride's steps matching one of his. Pride's eyes weren't focused that well, the light from his headlamp making him squint a little, and Sloth's back was not the most interesting of sights so he didn't see the point in seeing impeccably, only tailing him directly by shadow, teeth glinting in the dark just enough that Sloth knew not to dawdle. Another moment passed before Sloth decided to not walk anymore, until Pride ended up walking into him **"Why did you stop, Sloth?" **It came out as a rather harsh hiss, the underlying whispers in his voice echoing against the dirt of the tunnel.

"WALL, NOWHERE TO WALK TO."

"**That is why you must **_**dig,**_** Sloth. Don't you know how to dig?" **Already Pride's patience with his sibling has started to wane, not unexpected of his arrogant nature but Pride forced himself to calm down, it might have been Sloth's fault but he couldn't put his objective at risk just because of that. He would be attentive and patient for now, to ensure everything ran smoothly, at least for today.

"…DIG?"

"**Oh, so you don't know how to dig, well then…" **With another sigh Pride padded forward, around Sloth and towards what he assumed would be the end of the prebuilt template of a tunnel Father had created. Unlike what he would have assumed, the tunnel petered out, becoming much smaller than Sloth, but he would still fit if he just-

Shadows still pooled around him he knelt down, crawling uneasily on one hand as he held the lantern out to discern how far the tunnel went before it stopped completely, where Pride could start to teach Sloth _how _to dig nevermind dig impeccably. He didn't turn back to see Sloth as he went, feeling his dull witted brother's gaze on him anyway as he went. Slowly he reached the end of the small tunnel, pawing weakly at the wall, weakly to stop himself from overbalancing and collapsing, some of the softer rocks crumbled and fell before him. Pride plucked them up one by one with his left hand, a certain type of awkwardness about him at using his weaker hand, throwing them behind him with the same lack of coordination and clumsiness. A thin layer of dirt began to cover him, collecting under his fingernails, coating his hand and his knees and shoes and his socks and all up and down his legs. Pride was all too aware that his container was not suited to too much physical labour, the dust from the unsettled soil irritating his eyes and making him choke and pale from it clogging the shadows that he assumed allowed him to breathe to keep his container functioning properly, leaving him a shameful coughing mess as he continued to blindly swipe at the minuscule section of the wall, this was all Sloth's fault for not knowing how to dig. Begrudgingly Pride crawled backwards, arm holding the lantern trying to cover both his mouth and his eyes, only ending up covering half of each, he felt Sloth sluggishly raise his foot for him as he returned to his place behind him.

"**Do you know how to dig now? Just scoop the dirt out with your hands, ok?"**

"…OK." Pride sat down, still coughing a tad as he watched Sloth grab haphazard fistfuls of stone and soil and force them behind him, flying past him thank goodness, but a lump grazed his cheek, and he scowled, teeth showing and teeth in his shadows grinding together. A single quick spark lit the tunnel for a brief moment as the tiny cut in his face healed without a fuss. Still, he had been instructed to remove the dirt Sloth dug out and place it outside, so he needed to dispose of it, but how was he suppose to transport— _oh._

With a queasy grimace Pride forced his shadow to flatten against the floor, and open its mouth wide, sweeping along the ground, clods and stones and who knew what else catching in his teeth, a disgusting trace of its taste lacing his tongue until he was gulping down his bottle of milk in one just to stop himself from retching. With another shame filled blush spread over his healed cheeks, he sent his shadow back the thirty or so feet to the entrance, rising up and spilling the dirt over the floor, Pride winced at the way his stomach cramped in on itself with his shadow's heaving those dozens of feet away in its emptiness.

It didn't matter how degrading or disgusting this was, Father had been kind enough to provide him with drinks to make it more bearable, this was far too important to Father for him to be concerned over such a petty thing as something's taste, it was fine, it would always be fine, even if he had to do it for every inch of Amestris's tunnel, it would be more than worth it when _That Day _came. Of course it would be.

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Pride didn't know how long they'd been digging, or how long he'd been walking with his lantern raised and collecting soil with his shadows and spitting it out, but by now he was traveling for minutes at a time in his shadows before he reached the entrance, and his candle was almost burned completely down. A streak of a dirty brown stain ran up his shirt from when he'd tripped on a lone rock, and lone it had remained when he had scowled a venomous scowl and swallowed it. Pride was still spitting the odd grain of dirt that had caught in his container's teeth out, the wretched bitty taste of it on his tongue no illusion now, it was probably dyed the same filthy brown, some grains had turned to mud and slipped down his throat, but he had gone past the point of caring, only smearing the specks onto his sleeve as he wiped his face, scratching at his head to try and dislodge any bits that had caught in his hair as well. His headlamp was dull and cool and its candle had burned to nothing long ago, but he'd been so preoccupied he hadn't even noticed.

"CAN I…SLEEP NOW, PRIDE?" Pride's shadows slinked sullenly in two separate strands at his feet, no teeth or eyes or anything in particular, resigned to their monotonous duties. They didn't twitch or move an inch from their set place, Pride only mustering an annoyed frown at Sloth's impertinence.

"**No…just keep…digging." **He couldn't say he blamed Sloth for being this way, but Sloth's entire existence revolved around this, while _his _did not, so Sloth should not be so weak of mind or so lazy or so apathetic to working for Father's cause, this expedition of sorts was only lasting a day, surely Sloth could spend that much time working on such a simple task without such complaining.

"SHOULD LET… REST."

"_**No, **_**Sloth. Keep digging. You can sleep when Father says you can sleep." **Pride didn't bother to move his mouth when he spoke anymore, Sloth wouldn't care and there was no one else who would see, so he didn't mind it.

"NOT ME…" Sloth turned to half face him, staring down at him, probably with some emotion, but his blank eyes failed to convey it to him so he ignored it. He heard Sloth sigh a little before he carried on digging "SUCH A BOTHER…"

Another hour or so passed in silence, maybe, everything stayed the same no matter how far Sloth dug so the concept of time had slowed so considerably that, if he tried hard enough, Pride could have even convinced himself that no time had passed at all, but that was such a terrible, pessimistic thought that he didn't even want to consider it, even if the only evidence otherwise was the slow melting of his lantern's candle, now little over half an inch of it remaining, and the ever rising level of dirt on his clothes and skin. Sloth had gone on a few feet through his musing, and Pride forced himself to walk at a slightly quicker pace to catch up, but on his third step, before his soil covered shoe could even touch the ground, something shot through him so suddenly he fell forward for a second time that day (or was it night now…?), but he couldn't even form a scowl, every fibre of him frozen in terror, terror in response to what still eluded him. What was wrong with him, there was nothing different about this part of the tunnel, why was he behaving so sickly and pathetic…? He didn't want Sloth helping him; there was nothing so wrong with him that he needed to lower himself to such a level, to accept assistance from someone like Sloth, it was too shameful to even consider. Pride could feel it around him, throbbing and looming and suffocating him. A few feet askew, even a single misstep and that dreadful promise of death would be fulfilled in an instant, he was further from Father than he had ever been in his life, and if he was careless he would remain that way forever. He was just so weak, to be so afraid of something he could prevent by being obedient and sensible, how could he be anything but? Pride's momentary thoughts of sense and clarity were as quickly smothered by fear and desperate panic. He needed to move; he couldn't stay or carry on in such a pathetic state. He couldn't breathe, being so confined and squashed and of no use to Father whatsoever, it was just like…

Through the dim light of the lantern he could see the faint outline of his sibling, Sloth was irresponsible, even if he wasn't trying to help, him with no supervision from him he'd be reckless, the roof could collapse on top of them both, it wasn't like it would affect Sloth, but it would crush his container, and the lantern, his container would fail in protecting him and he'd suffocate, if the rocks and dirt didn't kill him first, and without any light he wouldn't be able to cut through them with his shadows, he wouldn't be able to regenerate while being smothered, and he'd die completely through no fault of his own, whether he breached the limit of where he was able to travel or not. He needed to be…calm, and think straight, keep Sloth in line, his eyes squeezed shut to hide the angry tears of his inadequacy, holding his breath to stop himself hyperventilating.

"**Don't move, Sloth! Stay there!" **it was another few minutes before Pride had calmed enough to shuffle himself backward, with help from the pair of shadowed hands that he'd wrapped around his ankles, but even then, when he'd propped himself against the tunnel wall to rest he was still shaking, huddled in on himself, a little claw of a shadow curved over him lest the ceiling collapse. **"We'll rest here for a little while, don't go to sleep though."** Shadows speaking for him he was free to dust his container off and multitask while doing so, only glancing in Sloth's general direction from time to time.

"REST…?" He nodded, setting his lantern down at his feet, opening the little glass door.

"**Yes, rest and sleep are quite different concepts; we'll…continue working later." **With a very loud and forceful tremor Sloth sat down a ways off, knees bent due to his size. Pride plucked a stick from their place in his shorts, a sheet of phosphorous coated paper from his pocket following it, as well as the bottle of sulfur. He only lightly dipped the tip into the sulfur to avoid it burning too quickly and holding the paper in place he drew the splinter roughly across it with a stroke, flinching as the tip set alight so suddenly. Holding the now lit splinter at arm's length (the warmth of it was surprisingly soothing), he emptied his pockets of the replacement candles, tugging the headlamp from his head and tipping the lantern over to force the flat circle of what was left of the original candle out, it extinguishing almost immediately, replacing them both as quickly as he could, hand still shaking with the remnants of his anxiety.

The warmth was nice, gentle and comforting in its own way, it was so cold down here that the change was exquisite. Reveling in his sudden change of mood Pride managed to form a soft smile, regarding the naked flame of his makeshift candle curiously, slowly lighting the new candles, latching the glass door shut on his lantern and pulling his headlamp back on lopsided. Despite his little fire having become obsolete, Pride couldn't bring himself to destroy it, holding it a little closer now, a delighted blush lighting his face. He'd never paid much attention to the flame itself before, but now that he was inspecting it properly it was so unique and peculiar in a strange but pleasant way, with its blended mix of yellow orange and a drop of blue, it didn't matter if he couldn't look at it directly for too long without tiny blotches forming in front of his eyes, it was pleasant all the same. The flickering little amber teardrop seemed so close now, the heat of it flitting, fizzing in his fingertips and on the palm of his other hand, warming him completely just from that tiny light, but in his relaxed daze he pulled the splinter nearer, wondering if he could…perhaps, touch it, even if only for the briefest second. It was rather pleasant at first, still a moderate warmth radiating from it, but in moments it had seeped through his layers of artificial skin, burning, the heat intensifying to a point he yelped, dropping the lit splinter and holding his burnt hand for dear life against his neck in a delayed flinch. Pride kept himself still, frozen in place until the scorched splinter burnt itself to nothing, extinguishing itself as if in guilt- how could he have been so foolish, exposing his container to something so potentially dangerous? Father had instructed him to be careful and the sensible older brother for Sloth, and he was being so irresponsible. Beneath the skin of his hand the shadows were writhing irritably, of course they would be, the flame having burned his skin the light could reach his shadows, burn them away too, how awful a thought, it was _not _something he wished to experience again, and being responsible at the age that he was it never would again, he'd make sure it didn't.

Sloth seemed close now; he was stretching out a hand, the one with the single node in the centre of it, reaching towards-

"**What are you doing?" **Even now Pride didn't move his mouth, hiding his wince at the sudden brush of oversized fingers on his sleeve, shuffling away with a glare. Sloth seemed deterred but…no less concerned.

"…HURT."

"**I'm fine, Sloth." **But Sloth only tilted his head in confusion, successfully reaching over to nudge his arm, gently despite his size. Lifting to scuff his chin rougher than he meant to.

"NOT YOU, PRIDE" Sloth still stared curiously at his container, something of impudence there that Pride couldn't place "CAN…TALK? PRIDE…NOT LET YOU TALK?"

"**What are you talking about…?" **More interested in assessing the damage to his hand Pride spoke rather nonchalantly, distracting himself as he pulled the bottle of water, the apple and the orange thing out of his pockets, untying the cloth containing the bread as well.

"YOUR… SLAVE. " He settled for pouring half the water over his scorched palm to cool it as it healed, the singed layers of skin being covered, returning to their usual pale colour until only a slight pink remained, the flashes of his regeneration soft and barely noticeable. Pride knew there was no point listening to Sloth, handing the bread roll to him to try and shut him up, taking a small bite out of the apple. Pride hadn't the slightest idea what nonsense Sloth was spewing, thinking it better to just ignore him, it'd taken him all day to learn how to do even the most menial of tasks anything that required even an ounce of common sense would be beyond him, so Pride wouldn't bother trying.

The bread stealing his focus for a while Sloth moved back to sitting awkwardly in his place, and within five minutes he'd already fallen sideways with a thud and fell asleep- typical. But before Pride had the opportunity to send his shadow slithering along the wall to wake and discipline Sloth in the correct way he was sighing, eyelids suddenly heavy and drooping, he was rather…tired too. They'd made so much progress, he supposed, reaching the edge of his 'border'- which was the size of Central at the moment give or take…

The safe, contained light of the candle in his lantern flickered softly, at a distance and of no threat to him, it was nice in a strange way, that something could be so wonderful, but if he was rash and got too close it would cause such harm- even if his mild burn was unpleasant, he wouldn't wish such on anyone, even the thought, to die from such would be- he resisted a shudder. Nevertheless, his thoughts muddling in the almost endless stretch of tunnels surrounding him, Pride sank lower, falling too in the opposite direction of his brother, the faded light washing over his face, and his filthy stained clothes and skin.

Despite his best attempts to stay awake and continue to force Sloth to work for Father's sake, Pride felt the shadows receding back into his container, too tired to keep them out as he drifted off. Curled up a ways off from his little blue lantern, his final thought was not of how he would obediently return to the tunnels with Sloth until the tunnel was complete, but of how much he would need a bath when he returned.

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**October 29th 1778**

"Aw, c'mon Lust, not many women can say they've officially reached old hag status like you! Smile a little!" Greed was in his usual genial mood for a sixty-six year old, age didn't matter for her much, but reaching three figures was special she supposed, even if Pride was only twelve years shy of being twice her age already. She remembered Pride's 100th birthday, Pride and his princess pet of a human having such a droll time together, it didn't mean anything, without a human to humour Father didn't care about any of their birthdays, especially Pride's, Father might not care about birthdays, but Pride's was the one he didn't care about first. Lust had been born into such favouritism and she'd come to terms with it in her 'old age', the same could not be said about her less tolerant brothers, but she might have wished she could be so rebellious, however treasonous, Father didn't take enough notice of them to even see such a thing.

"Not much of a party this aint, you guys are all boring!" Envy knocked back his second glass of wine in one, special occasion n'all Greed had insisted she break out another bottle of the Queen's wine, this one from 1700. To keep the peace she hadn't invited Pride to their private birthday party, but she didn't think he'd want to come anyway, too busy digging with Sloth, even if all he did these days was sleep and supervise Sloth over long distances.

"All two of us, Envy? You should be happy we're even givin' you some ale, we should have a 'third child or older' rule shouldn't we, keep your jealous claws off it?"

"Like you'd want Pride drinking this, Greed."

"At least the little prick wouldn't drink the whole bottle!"

"Look who's talking!" With an exasperated and tipsy sigh she sent a nail a piece though each of their heads, skewering the little chimera-lizard-thing in Envy's head for good measure.

"Let's leave the fighting untilwe're _actually_ bladdered, shall we?" Lust let herself smile a little, more a smirk, pouring herself another glass as she retracted her nails. "Now, since you two arranged this what are we gonna do for entertainment, or do you two women want to gossip instead?" Envy grinned and sat up straight

"Oh! Well Greed…had a birthday present for you, but he kinda got distracted and... well…" he whistled quietly as he rolled his eyes, looking to Greed.

"Wow, thanks Envy, remind me next time to sew your mouth shut. Anyway, so I bought you this big bottle of gin in case we ran out of wine, which we're definitely going to I just want you to know that, you shouldda bought more. Oh, right right, so I was going to give it to you when I had an idea."

"A greedy idea?"

"Not at all, Lust. So, Father'd made up Pride's food for the day, water and stuff, so I…" Greed paused to laugh to himself "I put the gin in the water bottle, he was right confused, but since he is just 'oh so loyal to Father' he didn't dare think it was strange. I can just imagine, he'll be out like a light by now don't worry. Can't say he'll be well tomorrow though!" Both Greed and Envy cackled between themselves "…yeah, and then I drank what was spare, sorry 'bout that Lust. But I had good intentions; the prick needed to get pissed once in his boring life, and then was the time." Lust knew she should have been scolding them for deceiving Pride like that, asking them what the hell they were thinking, that they should be concerned about what would happen if Father found out, but she only found herself smiling along with them at the thought of her serious older brother making a fool of himself while he was none the wiser, the day after he probably wouldn't remember so he might not tell Father about it, it was a terrible risk but there was nothing she could have done to prevent it, she knew Greed and his whims.

"Bet you thought I weren't serious when I told ya 'bout it them years ago. I don't tell lies Lust, I said I'd do it and I did, just got a bit distracted is all, with Envy and Sloth and all that rubbish going on." They went on for about an hour, drinking and gossiping about a multitude of things, Lust letting them rant and talk about whatever without scolding them in her tipsiness, only chuckling from time to time. Soon Envy began to slur his words, and his head began to sink closer to his pillow with every word.

"Y'know" he hiccupped "When I'm hundred… y'know, I think… we should…" he passed out before he finished his sentence, and Greed started up another conversation without batting an eyelid.

"You know what's rubbish, Lust? These hoity toity names the humans've got for us sins." What a strange subject for Greed to bring up, of course humans were verbose like that, they had many names for the sins in their attempts to pretend they didn't possess them, the seven sins were the sins of humans and the sins that Father did not wish to possess, it made sense they'd use euphemisms and what not. She smiled and sipped at her glass.

"Oh? Like what?"

"Like you for instance, I talk to those posh humans and they're all 'licentiousness and lasciviousness is just wrong' what the Hell's up with that? Lust is lust no matter how you dress it up."

"Is that right before they shoo you off? And your point?"

"We need better names for each other; ones that Father didn't just slap on us. I mean look at me, I'm freakin' awesome, I need a cool name, like, the ultimate shield or somethin', now that sounds like a guy who people can trust, rather than '_oh, that guy's greedy, watch out he'll steal your shit'_." Lust laughed at how ridiculous Greed was being, but humoured him all the same.

"Your skin shield's pretty interesting, but what about these?" She let her nail extend to poke his cheek

"Oh, those? Well, they're all spiky and spear-y. How about the ultimate in spear-y…ness?"

"You think I like spearing people, what are you implying, Greed?"

"Fine, how's lance, that's less… _manly, _right_?_"

"Sure, why not?" She stole a glance at her jealous little brother and the pinkish stain on his bed covers, he'd ask her to wash them, she usually said no but maybe when she was more sober she'd consider it "how about Envy?"

"Silly tart you are, Lust. Envy shouldn't have one; he's second youngest as it is. Nah, just you and me, only two with a lick o' sense right now anyway." Lust shook the bottle of wine slightly, feeling only one glassful or so left, and sipping at the half full glass she had, she stood up on shaky heels and gave it to Greed.

"You need it more than I do, I guess." She smiled "Now, best be going, Envy won't be happy if he wakes up with you in his room." Lust hadn't smiled so much in one day in probably a decade, even if it was just a special occasion, going through one day where they weren't arguing (that much) or being shunned was…nice, if she were to put a word on it, someone like her was too jaded to get anything past that these days. But nice was better than nothing, she supposed.

She supposed the next time this happened would be for her 200th birthday.

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Just to clear something up about how Sloth was acting weird- y'see, as Pride met Sloth with his shadows only, and Sloth has never seen Pride speak out of his container due to Pride being behind him when he's digging he thinks that Pride's only the shadow and that Pride's container is just a human slave that Pride has, hopefully Sloth'll be unconfused eventually ^^;


	41. A Valuable Venture and a Vacuous Victim

A/N: Hello again everyone, happy I'm sticking to a schedule still, though I have mock exams soon so I should get revising on them now ^^;

Previous reviews:

Violetlight:

Not reaaaaaaally, the last time they got smashed in fic was 47 years before in 1731, not really all the time.

Lol, of course Pride'd want to think he has a proper purpose, his main role is so wishy washy in series he;d probably have made one up for himself to make himself feel better ages ago, or rather latching onto Sloths ^^;

Yay for Sloth's misinterpretation not being far from the truth? His confusion was something I'd wanted to include since I first planned Sloth's introduction so I'm glad it worked out ^^

Moofy –Fan:

Yes, Pride's pretentiousness is unmatched when it comes to supervising, except when he has to nom dirt that aint cool, poor him but of course of course, Father said jump he says how high and to what degrees while standing ^^;

I did want to bring back Pride's fascination with fire, since his love for warmth, and yet fire makes the light which can cause him so much harm, and burn him anyway. Yay, I'm glad Sloth still worked out ok, I wanted to make it seem like he cared about Pride's 'slave', I guess it makes him feel not as bad if he thinks Pride's mistreating someone else as well ;_;

I was a little iffy about the end scene given I wrote it past midnight which is never a good time for writing for me, so I'm glad you thought it was ok ^^

No more time wasting, I'll stop rambling and let you read the chapter now ^^;;

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Forty-One: A Valuable Venture and a Vacuous Victim of Voraciousness**

**September 29th 1789**

In her insistence that he change clothes every few decades, to ensure that he did not appear old fashioned or suspicious one those few and far between times that he ventured above ground to Central, she had purchased him a new outfit, shoes included. Though with that same awkward particular nature of hers Lust had decided they needed altering again to suit him before she let him wear them. Being the calm and rational older brother he was Pride had taken to sitting patiently on her bed, he hadn't sat there for a few years, having been so busy supervising Sloth in the tunnel, though mostly from afar, sending his shadow instead. Pride was becoming used to not having to sleep immediately after retracting it; eventually he'd probably be able to do the same while still having a slight control over his container, if such a situation were ever to arise where he would need to control both efficiently.

Lust didn't say anything as she messed with the clothes she'd bought for him, sewing and cutting and generally fiddling with things that Pride very much doubted needed fiddling, unless she was hiding her own stupid errors which was quite a possibility knowing her, her being almost ninety years younger than him, though with her knowledge of modern human fashion Pride had expected at least a basic knowledge of suitable clothes for him. She was quite adept at sewing, even though most of her human clothes she had bought or had made by a tailor due to their unending supply of funding by the government and the monarchy that came before it- money that would be written off as an expense for something else so as not to disrupt the economy of course, research into _alchemy_ and _medicine_ was _always _important, even though no one ever seemed to reap the benefits of such, but the humans were just so gullible they'd swallow anything those higher up than them happened to say.

Despite this, Lust seemed to enjoy sewing sometimes, having clothes for skin she seemed to prefer it when she was altering clothes for him, at least it seemed that way the last time she did so, Pride saw no value in it, such tedious work it seemed, surely the humans could use their precious alchemy to bind cotton and wool and silk and thread together to form something useful. Lust had a particularly _darling _friend of hers who was fascinated with sewing, had done sketches, drawings and whatnot of some sort of contraption that could stitch fabrics, but he said things like canvas and leather, together to make sewing that much easier, but he was a shy fellow- he didn't want to share his idea with the world, even if Lust had swore he was probably hiding a working version of his harebrained device somewhere. His meekness had amused her in a peculiar way, so she didn't bother to kill him, and she doubted that anything would ever become of him in his silly shyness at any rate so she didn't see the point. It wasn't like she cared.

Lust was happy to keep using his current shirt, and was content with the trousers she had purchased to remain as they were, having only wore trousers once thus far in his life Pride was still rather curious of them, far different to his previous violet pair, these were straight and black and fell to his ankles, so far Pride had no qualms with them. The shiny black shoes were suitable too, like his previous, though they had no laces and would probably come close to falling off if he wasn't careful. She'd been warning him about the upcoming autumn and winter despite Pride having no orders or any assumptions of being ordered to go visit the humans upstairs, but he saw no point in arguing with her. Similar to his previous purple clothes, he had another waistcoat, black too, but much more simple in design, no where near as ostentatious as his old one, it was to be expected considering these were clothes intended for those who were merely middle class or at best aristocratic, nothing like royalty, and certainly not as pretentious and as extravagant as the Aerugan royal family's sense of style was. He didn't particularly mind it; he'd worn simple things before. Simple could be nice.

Pride stared out listlessly, tilting his head to see collection of books on Lust's almost full bookshelf, the last book he'd read had been that infantile book _Fabulous Histories_, again purchased with the intention of selling it for more profit, at least that's what she claimed it was, it was absurd to think Lust would be so immature as to enjoy such feeble minded literature. The Mrs. Trimmer that had written it had even taken the gracious courtesy of pointing out the fact that animals could not talk to her naïve readers, who would be so stupid as to believe that such pathetic creatures could speak? Like the tale of that Miss Goody Two-shoes before it, it was sickly and optimistic to a fault, it so painfully obvious it was only designed for the most naïve of children and no one else, with its tale of animals and humans living in harmony together, the small cosy family of robins in their tree, both parents of the four hatchlings looking after their children with the greatest of care and attention, while the privileged human children were always so obedient and well behaved as far as humans went, that _mother _of theirs teaching them how to properly take care of animals, the children feeding the tiny creatures and relishing in their visiting their garden every day (Pride had never seen a robin before, but since it could fly he had assumed it a bird) which was a pleasant surprise, but Pride didn't see it as something that could truly exist, it was just what that Mrs. Trimmer wished humans could be like, of course, humans could never be so considerate or gentle.

The tiny sliver of shadow that he'd stretched down to check on Sloth twitched a little, making his vision of Lust's room bleary and a wash of different shades of grey, the thin minute slit of an eye so far away glaring out in the darkness, barely able to materialize in the faint light of the lanterns scattered about the walls of the tunnel. Work was slow going, but there was no reason for Pride to doubt that the circle would be finished by the time Father's plan would come to fruition, he would make sure Sloth dug to perfection and made steady, efficient progress in digging, as Father's child Father would expect nothing less of him.

He could only hear scraps of noise in teetering where more of himself was, Sloth was digging somewhere quite far away, sounding efficient enough, but before he could travel further along the wall something crackled somewhere in between the shadow and his container, and it severed the thin shadow entirely with a quick flash, it disintegrating completely before Pride could send an eye there to see what had happened. It didn't matter, his shadow had travelled though Father's room, so Father must have been doing something important. Pride's sight cleared up at being forced back into his container at the recoil, Lust was almost done sewing by the look of it; threading the needle repeatedly over the same place to make sure it didn't come undone. With a sigh she snipped the excess thread away with a quick swipe of her nail and lifted the altered jacket up to assess it. Pride heard her 'hm' in approval, pushing her chair away and picking up the triangle-esque shape she'd cut away in it earlier, stepping up to the bed to present her handiwork.

It fit well, he supposed, the front ending at his waist, but the back ripped into two pointed strands that stretched down to his knees, swaying a little as he walked, the slow ripples in them as they fell down again graceful in the most refined sense. Perfect for him, Pride thought. Lust didn't manage anything past a tiny smile as she wrapped something soft and sky blue around his neck, threading one end through the other, but the loose end split into two once it fell.

"Winter's coming Pride, so I bought you this scarf, it's made of cotton so it'll keep you warm too." Pride examined it haphazardly, straightening it out and smoothing it down, its three spiky tips of the end of each side rigid with how it was made. "Right, now that we're all done we should go to Father, I think he mentioned something about wanting to see us all today, not sure what for though."

"**You shouldn't question Father for anything Lust, not even wonder, for whatever he wants of us is of the utmost importance." **the sharp-tongued malice and the hiss contained in Pride's words was less intentional as it was such a common occurrence now that he often didn't realize he was doing it- it was all common sense to him that the idea that Lust still hadn't learned that was shameful to say the least.

"I know that, Pride, I'm almost one-hundred-and-eleven y'know." Lust's minute smile faded away, and she stood up properly, stepping back to let him pass,

"**You would do well to act your age occasionally then." **She only huffed in a half-laugh half sigh, not saying anything, it was for the best to ignore her like he usually did, and Pride strode along without waiting for her to catch up, but she did in far fewer steps than him, the clacking of her heels enough of an indicator.

Pride hadn't seen Greed or Envy that morning, nor heard them as he padded along the corridor from Lust's room, well…

Knowing Envy he'd be oversleeping.

And knowing Greed he'd be out, even when he knew Father wanted them for something so important.

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It didn't take more than a few moments for Pride to realize what had happened, it having happened five times before, granted once without him present but still, the familiarity of it all hung thick in the air like the haze that currently filled Father's room. Of course his shadow would have been severed by it, making a homunculus warranted a large amount of alchemic light. Pride didn't mind it in the slightest; another sibling to contribute to Father's plan was always welcome. A quiet, nagging thought made Pride hope that this one would be an improvement on Sloth in the intellectual field, but such a thing was so disrespectful to Father that he forced it down without hesitation, so much that he managed to forget about it almost immediately.

Patiently waiting for Father to emerge from the mist, he kept himself occupied by thinking about what his new sibling could possibly be like, there were only two sins left of the seven- wrath and gluttony, but having seen Father's previous ways of incarnating his sins from which he wanted to cleanse himself Pride could hardly begin to imagine what he or she was going to look like, or be like personality wise, or _anything_. Father had discussed something with him a decade or so ago, but Pride didn't see the two things related in anyway, they seemed too alien, then again, Envy was an attempt at making something perfect, it was understandable that Father would wish to try and make something perfect through other methods too. It had been rather complicated, a tad too much for him to understand entirely, but Pride had no doubt that one day, when he was older, that he'd be able to understand it completely, and use that knowledge to assist Father to his highest standard. Even if Pride didn't understand it, he had felt…something, when he mentioned that _Gate_, and the fading voice of that something in his head had made a disgraceful outburst inside him, protesting that there was also a black gate in addition to the white one Father had described to him, but it had quietened down at the talk of the murky black that existed inside the gate, and the eye at its centre. Father had spoken about it, and the Truth that stood in his way to it with such disdain, such a poisonous hate that it had affected Pride more than he thought it would, something about it wrong, even though it would lead to Father's ultimate goal, but surely that was only because Pride did not understand it yet, he would understand it one day, and never have such foolish thoughts again.

Lust was standing a few feet behind him, arms folded with her patiently waiting indifference. Greed and Envy were still nowhere to be found, Sloth might have been excused due to the significant value of his job, they had no such excuse, how insolent they were being, not present for the birth of a new sibling, Father would punish them later for their impudence. It was all they deserved.

The haze cleared a little, the brilliant white of Father's robe peeking out first before he emerged properly with a weak sort of smile, soft and forced but magnificent all the same. Pride stepped back to bow down, his coattails flicking a little as he did, scarf drooping down, specks of the dust and mist catching in it. He held himself in place for a few seconds, trying to emulate Father's smile, if he didn't smile perfectly Father might think him insincere, which could not be further from the truth, would always be, but Pride would never let himself make such an error.

"Hello, Pride, Lust, I presume Greed and Envy are still on their mission from earlier." Pride turned to Lust and scowled a little at her not telling him about Greed and Envy being out, but the quiet scowl she shot back at him told him that she at least didn't know the circumstances of their task, it still didn't excuse her disrespect at not informing him.

"That is correct, Father, they should be returning soon though."

"Excellent."

"If I may, Father, what of our new sibling, is he or she ready to be introduced to us?"

"Indeed, Lust. His name is Gluttony, my sixth sin of the eventual seven. Like Envy, he is created to emulate something of perfection, though I will need to test his ability before I can determine whether it was a success. Gluttony, while being of a similar composition and appearance to your siblings, Pride excluded, he will also serve a specific second purpose. That is, he is to be an alternate Gate of Truth, allowing me to bypass the Truth, and access all the knowledge contained within the Gate." Pride's eyes had widened in awe of it all, it sounded wonderful, that Father would be able to use Gluttony so easily to achieve his goals, Pride had never desired for anything but Father's happiness, and he would do anything to ensure it, but with Gluttony able to do such a thing so naturally…immediately after being born…

Something stabbed and ached in his head at the thought, however shameful and ungrateful a thought that would never be voiced, that was cut into innumerable pieces and buried somewhere deep in the very core of him where it could never resurface. Before Pride could consider it any longer something staggered out, tumbling over after three steps and settling for crawling the rest of the way.

He looked…smaller than the others, but only height wise, definitely not width wise, with thick disproportionate arms, usual red lines and nodes running up them to his shoulders, with tiny stubby feet covered by his skin-clothes. No hair either. Pride heard him groan a little, his unsightly round nose running along the floor as he tried to push himself back onto his feet, little blank eyes like Sloth's blinking in a vacuous confusion. Only managing to push himself up by leaning on his arms he stuck his nose in the air, sniffing curiously.

"Ooooh, Fath-er?" it seemed as though noses did serve some purpose in that sense of 'smell', his just didn't seem to work, it wasn't like he would ever need it though.

"Hello, Gluttony." Father stepped closer, and actually reached a hand out to help him up, holding onto it until he steadied himself. As he turned to present Gluttony to them Father bore a much more sincere smile, one Father hadn't given him in who knew how long. "This is Pride, your eldest brother."

"Oh, nice to meet you, Pride." his voiced was drenched that child-like naivety and wonder and simple delight in everything, Pride couldn't understand it, and despised it all the same, such ignorance had no place in Father's plans. With a more than forced smile he inched closer to shake his hand, pulling away after a few seconds when Gluttony didn't understand the correct time to let go. With another bow to Father Pride stepped aside to let Lust introduce herself.

"Well, aren't you a unique little thing? I'm Lust, your only sister so far, second oldest, nice to meet you." She shook his hand with a small but sincere smile, patting at his head affectionately. Father watched them, speaking up after a moment or two

"Now, we must wait for-" a loud, shrill scream disrupted him, Greed and Envy barging in through the doors, something slung over Envy's shoulder, something kicking and protesting every which way- a human, presumably a woman by the sound of it. "Ah, here they are now." Envy laughed at something from a distance, sneering towards Greed

"You're so sexist, Greed, just cos she's a girl you don't wanna use her? You aren't even getting your hands dirty- she's a human ain't she, why do you care?"

"Let. Go! Don't you know who I am? ! I'll have you know I'm Percy Lupton's sister, you know, current owner of the Central theatre? It's the reopening of my father's play tomorrow? You know the one, right? It arrived in this backwater town a few years late because you wouldn't understand it!" She sniggered "You uncivilised, uncultured ingrates wouldn't even understand such a thing if it slapped you in the face! It figures that soon as I get back here something like this happens!" Envy clamped his spare hand over his ear, focusing on walking ahead, ignoring her.

Soon after Envy almost threw her to the floor in front of Father with a quick bow.

"Sorry, we're a bit late, Father; _Greed _wouldn't shut up about wanting to catch a guy instead."

"It is fine, Envy, at least the human is here now." The human glared up at them all, glancing to and fro with the same arrogant scowl. Pride sent a shadow to wrap around her ankle lest she be foolish enough to try to escape. She squeaked out a tiny yelp, but suffocated it with another scowl, pulling some small glasses attached to a straight gold handle up over her eyes as if trying to see him better, squinting, the glass was cracked in one lens, missing in the other. Such an unpleasant, ignorant human, she deserved whatever Father was using her for.

They both realized it instantly, Pride a little delayed in remembering his waning memories from long ago, eyes widening for a fraction of a second before he glared back at her

"**It's **_**you**_**."** Her confidence cracked, her face falling, realizing what was so terribly wrong now.

"You haven't aged a day, that wreck of a boy who bought Penelope off me. At least you've taken to wearing higher quality clothes now."

"**You are in no position to be speaking so audaciously. You could have been useful to us once, you would have been so easy to manipulate. But you were too foolish to even see that, if you'd been able to keep your mouth shut and think for a second you wouldn't be here. But at least you have a use now, however brief it may be, Priscilla Lupton." **Pride let himself smirk as she squirmed and tried to push herself away, shadows tightening their grasp around her ankle.

"Now, as I wish to first examine Gluttony's ability and how well it functions, we shall use this human as the test subject so as to not endanger anyone significant lest something go…awry." Father turned towards Gluttony, whispering something to him, and Pride only watched as Gluttony hooked his oversized finger in his mouth as he considered whatever Father was telling him, but he glanced down as his stomach whined.

"Eh? Ooh, Father, can I eat someone?" He pointed towards Priscilla with his spare hand "Can I eat her?"

"No, Gluttony, she serves a different purpose, you must do what I have instructed, Lust will take you to find someone to eat after you have done so."

"Ok, Father." His simple sibling waddled closer to them, becoming parallel to where Priscilla was half-sitting, still weakly trying to pull away

"**It would be wise to **_**not **_**move, Miss…Prissy, was that what your father called you? You wouldn't want to lose your foot, would you?" **a small row of teeth grew in his shadow, biting down a little, just enough to draw blood.

"If everything goes according to plan the human will return from the Gate, though if she encounters the Truth she will be punished and a part of her will be taken away as a toll. That is why I am not allowing any of you to volunteer for this, if a homunculus were to encounter the Truth the toll could be very damaging; even I may not be able to repair a toll taken by the Truth as I am now, so I will not be taking such a risk." Pride's face flushed a little at Father's concern for them, using a human to not put them at risk, but even then if there was no human he would have gladly volunteered himself without a second though, anything to make Father happy, no matter the consequences.

Gluttony stood up straighter, mouth opening wider, and suddenly his stomach seemed to rip in two vertically, far too many ribs opening up thirteen pairs running along the cut, connecting with his mouth- which had just as suddenly lost the jaw. There was only darkness in the gap between the over two dozen ribs that joined to his teeth, and in the centre of it was a single eye, an eye just like the eyes in his shadows, black capillaries instead but capillaries included all the same, but the iris was different, grey and washed out. Was that what the eye in the Gate looked like? Why were his eyes so similar to…?

Priscilla abandoned all her façade of class and elegance and screamed, pulling more violently, as if not caring if she ended up losing her feet if it allowed her to escape, how pathetic. With a sigh Pride sent more shadows to keep her still. Without warning something seemed to pull, like a sudden gust but contained within a certain point for the most part, incredibly strong and brief. The pull became too much, part of his shadow tearing, disconnecting from the rest of him with a jagged rip, the remaining broken tendrils retreating back into his container, bits of dust rising from the tear. When it was over Priscilla was nowhere to be seen, but Pride didn't notice, biting his tongue to stop himself making any shameful noises from the twinge at having his shadow damaged for the first time, minuscule crackles echoing inside himself as he regenerated unnoticed.

"You have done well, Gluttony. We must wait to see if the human returns to determine if Gluttony is indeed an alternate Gate of Truth." Father was smiling his sincere smile again, not even looking at him, not even explaining why his shadow had torn so easily. Still, Pride stood patiently, waiting, watching for Priscilla to come back to prove that Gluttony's ability worked.

It was over two hours until Father conceded that wherever Priscilla had gone to when Gluttony swallowed her, it wasn't the Gate.

Later he would conclude that he had created an alternate dimension inside Gluttony that was between reality and non-reality, which was a feat in itself, and he still could rely on his plans for Amestris to succeed on That Day.

It didn't change how disappointed he had looked during those minutes as he waited for Priscilla to come back.

Pride only wished he had felt worse about that fact that Gluttony was a failure of a Gate though.

That shameful little part of him had almost seemed pleased at his simple-minded sibling's inadequacy.

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**February 11th 1799**

Despite not being the Gate Father had anticipated, Gluttony, like Envy before him, had come to serve a new purpose that would instead contribute to the 'main' plan when the time came.

Pride didn't mind being left alone for the most part, though he didn't remember in any detail the time he spent in his flask before Lust was born, except that he was quite used to the loneliness that often left him resorting to sleep to prevent the feeling affecting him too badly. But even then Father was always there for him, so the feeling had never so much as plagued him to any serious extent. Even so, it was a similar strange emotion he felt as he realized that it had almost been a week since they had all left.

Lust had taken Gluttony out to Xerxes, apparently when Father had deceived the King of Xerxes he had instructed them to do things, and they had kept a record of these instructions through large stone engravings and murals throughout the royal court. Father did not want the humans beginning to pry, so he had sent Gluttony to 'swallow', as his failed gate ability had become known, the evidence there, with the reward of having permission to eat anyone he found there. Pride would have loved to travel to Xerxes to see where Father was born, see the country that Father had so easily manipulated and the population of which kept him alive even now, but his inability to leave Central had destroyed that wish in an instant, and Pride had thought no more about it.

Greed and Envy had travelled to Fisk to cause disruption there, form another crest of blood with help from the humans in Central once they caused enough chaos. Fisk was a town of particularly murky backgrounds; housing large underground (Greed had explained to Pride that it was not literally underground, just secret) productions of Moonshine that weren't particularly healthy but were very popular due to their inexpensive nature, so popular in fact that the producers of the Moonshine had split into two divisions and were now bitter rivals in their illegal business. The current head of the older division was one Harold Soapman, a simple enough man on the surface apparently, a candlestick maker who didn't believe in using alchemy to solve problems. Pride didn't see how relevant he was outside of Envy and Greed travelling there to kill him and frame the head of the other division using Envy's shape shifting ability. Once discord was to emerge the Central army would 'help' with keeping the peace, with a lot of collateral damage included.

Both of these things were important to Father, and though Pride often ventured down into the tunnels by shadow to supervise Sloth, it wasn't really the same as being there, and with no Lust to wash his clothes he didn't dare go there in his container.

Father was reading about things Pride wouldn't understand like he so often was, no doubt things that would be useful to his plan. Father's plan had been such a focal point of Pride's life ever since he was created, and yet he still didn't fully understand it, maybe he wasn't meant to, but his siblings seemed to have such a grasp on it somehow, and Pride longed to understand it too. Pride would never wish to possess more knowledge than Father, but just that one thing seemed so important, he needed to know, so he could help Father by knowing exactly what Father desired to achieve. Father started down from his book at him, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.

"**Forgive me for disturbing you, Father, but I was…I do not completely understand your future goals, preventing me to be of the most use to you in my purpose." **

"Hm? You were very young when I first told you about it, and back then I simplified it terribly. Very well, I shall explain my plan to you again, Pride." With a relieved smile Pride sat down on the floor, staring up at Father in his usual awe and reverence. "The Truth is a being that resides both everywhere and yet nowhere at all, in a place with a single door, or gate if you prefer, and each individual has a Gate of their own, which contains large amounts of knowledge about alchemy, but the world also has a Gate, and such a Gate will contain an infinite amount of knowledge. My goal is to harness all that knowledge for myself, to become like a God, and I need you, and your siblings to aid me in achieving that. However, as the Truth controls each Gate, and demands a toll for all who enter its dominion, I must first remove the Truth from its place and make it a part of myself. I will require the transmutation circle that Sloth is constructing, the crests of blood, and several alchemists when the time comes."

"**When is that time, Father?" **Father motioned towards his book, tapping at a diagram on the page

"When the moon crosses the sun an eclipse occurs, alchemists have predicted that the longest and the most suitable eclipse over Amestris will occur in the spring of 1915, on The Promised Day, if you will. That is when I will drag the Truth down and become _perfect_. I trust that I shall have your complete loyalty until then?

"**Of course, Father, you gave me my life, I would never desire to be anything but completely devoted to you. I will remain loyal and dutiful, long after the Promised Day has passed and you have become **_**Perfect**_**." **He would never be anything but; Father had loved him enough to create him it only made sense that he be devoted, everything he ever did, or would ever do would be for Father's sake.

And when the Promised day arrived, he wouldn't hesitate in doing anything that would help ensure Father dragged the Truth down to the earth and became a God.

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Sorry for the not much Gluttony this chapter, Gluttony being my least favourite homunculus (though Envy is only a hair's breadth better) I was scared that if I dwelled on him I'd get punchy and screw it up ;_;

Priscilla returns for a moment, I just hated her so much I wasn't letting her get off easy with her posh life in East City, even though her brother and father will be kinda important later on *hint hint*, and yay for foreshadowing, with her theatre lorgnettes all the way from her paper ones back in the day X)

Hope you guys liked this chapter, see you all in a fortnight ^_^


	42. The Familial Façade

A/N: phew, coursework deadlines almost made me miss schedule this week, especially with the clocks going forward as well. I gotta go since it's after midnight but I hope this chapter's ok ^^

Previous reviewers

Moofy-Fan:

I'm glad you like my version of Gluttony, even if I don't really like writing him ^^; I'm glad you like his new outfit too, since it's one of my favourites too, it was going to have spats with it but they didn't become popular until later on ;_; ah yes, of course he'd hate something so cute like that robin story ^^;

I know right, I was like "Priscilla's a brat but this is kinda mean".

Yes, hero worship, that's it, cute but so terribly because Pride can't see that Father doen't love him at all ;_;

Violetlight:

Even in relative writing time getting pissed every three months aint "all the time", I don't see what you're getting at really o.o

I go on about Pride's clothes because each of them has a reflection on his personality at that moment in time, I don't think it was that bad, I have gone on for longer on, I think, every other of his clothes so I don't think this time was any different.

Why would you assume such a thing, I have no bitterness or spite like that, all my chapters have been planned way before I even met you so I wouldn't change anything for something like that o_o;

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Forty-Two: The Familial Façade**

**February 7th 1810**

It had been a while since what had become to be known as the 'Soapman incident' had been instigated and carried out, it had gone smoothly enough, as it should, that timid, scrawny excuse of a young man Lewis had managed to grow and overtake his brother and succeed his father as Fuhrer, and was more than a little pleased with himself at how it had played out, more delighted in being involved in something so exclusive, despite his initial apprehension of discovering their presence. Still, that was a while ago, and as his timidness had soured and festered into something bordering on a sadistic streak in his living in his brother's shadow for so long he wished to have one last altercation, form another crest of blood for Father's cause before he stepped down after almost twenty years as Fuhrer. Lewis wasn't like Aloysuis, more obedient and cold, detached, in his want to gain favour with them he had become efficient to a fault, though they didn't mind it; they doubted such efficiency would ever come again.

Pride had been given clear enough instructions from Father- Meet with Lewis and the generals at Central Headquarters to discuss the location of where to next cause bloodshed, but Father had wanted one of his siblings to accompany him, and so Pride was walking along the corridor that lead to Lust's room, she was one of the most responsible of his siblings, being second oldest and everything. Like he expected, Lust was in her room, Gluttony there too, and Envy.

"Good morning, Pride, what are you doing here, aren't you helping with Sloth today?"

"**No, Father has instructed me to meet with the Fuhrer today, and he wants one of you to accompany me."**

"Only one of us?"

"**Yes."**

"Oh. Sorry Pride, I promised Envy and Gluttony I'd teach them how to play Patience today, and Chess, and Whist, y'know, all those kinda games. It's gonna be an all-day job too since Gluttony won't stop eating the cards. Good thing I bought ten packs isn't it?" Pride felt himself scowling almost immediately, scowling further as he looked around Lust to see Envy and Gluttony giving him clearly sarcastic waves (well, Gluttony's might have been genuine, but that dull witted brother of his hardly knew what he was doing at all half the time so Pride didn't care either way).

"**You would ignore Father's orders for such a trivial thing as teaching your **_**younger **_**sibling how to play pointless human games?" **a tiny mischievous smile bit into her nonchalant expression, and she leaned against the hole in the wall where a door should have been, resting her head against the side.

"You know I'm not the only person you can take. It's not like you aren't spoiled for choice or anything, any other day I would've come with you. Hmm…I wonder…" her finger slipped her lip down as if she was thinking something over, but of course she was only pretending to be, almost anything she ever said was a planned rehash of something she'd thought of before "Why don't you take Greed, he hasn't met Lewis, has he? I'm sure he'll enjoy the trip." Another coy smile, she never truly smiled these days, much like he never did, always sarcastic or hidden beneath spite and impudence, the last time they had ever smiled sincerely to each other was so far back Pride couldn't remember it.

"Lust! Get back in here, if you wait much longer Gluttony'll have eaten all the pieces; he's already on the knights!" She sighed, a kind of relieved-happy sigh he'd heard once or twice somewhere, that she used to use on him, but never now, never again.

"Oh, fine. Really Envy, you could try a little better to stop him." Still not being serious "Well, time for me to get back to _educating, _eh, Pride? You'd better be off too, don't want to keep Lewis waiting, or _Father _with your report for that matter_, _do you? Earlier you get there the earlier you'll get back." Pride didn't feel like trying to argue with her, she'd be stubborn and just try and undermine him with that shameful disrespect as usual, he only turned his nose up at her and spun on his heels to go to Greed's room. Greed was not _that _bad of a homunculus, better than Envy and Sloth and Gluttony in any field, so he was at least tolerable to be around. Greed still listened to him as well, as he should, he would never dare to be so insolent to his older sibling.

At least Greed still knew how the appropriate hierarchy worked.

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"What are you doing carrying around that ridiculous thing, Greed?" As easy as it had been to convince Greed to come with him to visit Lewis, his younger sibling was clearly still immature and eccentric in his own way, carrying a small but unsightly messenger bag more suitable for high class humans, though Greed's eccentricity was obvious enough with his way of dressing- having thrown away the ludicrous fox shawl due to it starting to fall apart a while ago, replacing it with a black jacket lined with white fur at the top. It was all preposterous of course, Greed had no decent taste for aesthetic things.

"I only brought it just in case we decided to buy something on our way back, aint like I got enough room in my pockets for 3000 _cenz _or any stupid amount like that,it aint like I can use the tit-space trick like Lust can, is it? " Same old vulgar-mouthed Greed, he never changed, Pride only rolled his eyes and wrinkled his nose a little, he could ignore it, not give him the satisfaction- that would only encourage him.

"I suppose, but it was a pointless assumption. We wouldn't need to bring money for a meeting with the Fuhrer and generals."

"Well I aint taking it back now." Pride hadn't expected him to, that would only waste more time.

Central Headquarters hadn't changed much, the only difference Pride could discern being that the all but abandoned spare building at the far end had been renovated into something less glaringly different, into a house for Lewis and his family, it was a nice enough mansion of sorts Pride supposed, though it was little more than a speck on the whole of the once-castle.

This being a meeting of business Pride paid no attention to the little cube of a mansion and passed it by with nary a glance, pottering up the stairs without a word, though feigning his childish smile and naïve mannerisms perfectly.

"Want me to wait here?" Greed asked him outside the door to the main conference room on the first floor, staring down through his dull, dirty, unneeded glasses with a toothy smile for no reason,

"I don't see why you would want to, but it's up to you. If you don't want to meet with the generals and Lewis," He glared back a tad, but smiled** "Father only really needs **_**one **_**of us to talk with them anyway." **

"Eh, fine, I'll stay here then." Pride only gave him a look, shaking his head with a sigh and pushed open the doors to the conference room, though he was only just able to open the door without raising his arm. As soon as he had stepped into the room eleven pairs of eyes fell on him, all but one thoroughly confused. Humans were such simple creatures, judging everything based solely on appearance as soon as they laid eyes on it, they never learned. Even from this distance Pride could see the Fuhrer's quiet smile as he observed his disposable underlings' reactions.

"Hello, everyone, Mister Fuhrer." Lewis returned his immature wave from across the table, still smiling softly, his dull weathered eyes unchanging, slouching forward constantly due to his age, leaning his elbows on the table to support himself.

"Good morning." Lewis's weak smile twitched a little wider at his deliberate vague term of address, leaving out his name to avoid revealing his purpose too soon, stalling and waiting until Pride got pushed too far by the inquisitive generals and reacted accordingly. Had Pride not known Lewis when he was younger he would have never thought this Lewis could be the same person, they were so starkly different, his optimism and youthful ambition had rotted away, leaving only bitterness and bloodlust, even though he was far too afraid to partake in such things himself. While Pride knew that humans were inherently cruel and self-serving he had never taken Lewis to be one of those people. Then again, Lewis was almost seventy years old, he would surely die soon, maybe it was that realization of his mortality that had caused his care for others to drain away, and he wished to make a mark on the world any way he could, even if it was only to be the Fuhrer of Amestris who managed to quell fighting by making everything worse, anything to prove he existed. Humans really were pathetic creatures.

With a smile Pride pushed the door to just a little, keeping himself in place until the silence would pass and they would need to be put in their place. The moment didn't come, Lewis slouched further in a quiet disappointment, he selected his generals on how easy they were to manipulate, chances were he didn't care for any of them. Pride padded around the table, trying to find a spare seat so as to stand on the table and discuss Father's plans for where to cause bloodshed next.

"I will be speaking on behalf of my Father, as he has instructed me to; I pray there are no objections. That would be unfortunate." Lewis would gladly give up his seat for him, and Pride made his way along the table, smiling toothily as he went, each of the generals giving him a _most condescending_ look, a look that implied he wasn't supposed to be there, how incorrect they were in their senseless assumptions. Eventually one of them conceded, being impatient like always.

"Sir, if I may, why have you allowed a child into the conference room?" Lewis shakily pushed himself up from his seat, both to address the general as well as to move aside to let him climb onto the table.

"I imagined you'd be curious, Steiner, well, I know all of you are confused in part, so I will not keep you pondering." By now Pride had climbed up on the table, reflecting all the generals' suspicious glares back at them with the same condescension, though of course his was justified, especially at that wispy haired general Steiner, such impudence would lead to him getting transferred to somewhere far away, though it was only a slight impudence, so he'd be allowed to get away with his life for now "Though he may appear to be naught but a child, that cannot be further from the truth. You see-" A much more disruptive sound of a chair scraping across the floor interrupted him, about to protest no doubt, defy their superior so easily? How could humans be so stupid? It didn't surprise him at all really, but such a thing could be precarious, and he would rectify it immediately. Lewis glared a little at the general too, having sat himself back down.

"I have yet to finish speaking, Dixon." Before the impertinent human could even open his mouth Pride had nonchalantly thrown a sharp-tipped shadow at him, pinning him and his chair to the wall through his stomach.

"**I have no time for disruptions." **No one spoke another word, though the general kept shouting and screaming nonsense which was not conducive to efficient conversation, Pride scoffed at his continued insolence and wrapped another shadow over his mouth **"Now, Lewis." **Another shadow slithered to pluck the rolled up map of Amestris from its place on the bookshelf, Lust said he always put it in the same place to help them, though Pride knew it was only because humans were that predictable. He unrolled it on the table. **"You need to work with your…**_**nine **_**underlings to form another crest of blood;" **from the shadow buried in his stomach Pride felt the way poor mister Dixon was trembling, Pride didn't give him a glance, but smiled **"we have three so far, and we only have one hundred and five years to form **_**seven**_** more, so you must not dawdle."** Lewis nodded slowly

"I will do my very best to serve your Father, Pride. Though, if I may, where do you wish we form the fourth? First we invaded Reviere during the monarchy, then there was the civil war in Cameron a hundred years later, and I myself oversaw the disruption caused during _the Soapman incident_, once it was instigated by Envy and Greed."

"**And what exactly did you do then, surely you can just do the same?"** the Fuhrer seemed thoughtful, glancing between each of the generals, leaving Dixon out as if not wishing to see him in such a state, thin strings of blood were beginning to seep into his uniform, and so as to not have him leaving an awful mess Pride opened a mouth beneath him, being eaten and allowed to live on inside himself was a privilege he didn't deserve though.

"Something similar yes, even if that may garner suspicions, though on my head be it. The public think of me as merely unlucky, not malevolent, they respect me very much, so I doubt they will question my authority in the next few years, and by that time I would have stepped down as Fuhrer."

"**Very well."**

"However, we cannot perfectly emulate the Soapman incident, as, in response to the incident so as to keep favour with the public; we made production of home brewed alcoholic beverages legal without a license if for personal consumption, to ensure such a thing never occurred again. It was a great tragedy in Amestris's history you understand; even now Fisk is only just starting to get back on its feet." There was something like remorse in Lewis' tone, such a thing had no place in Father's plan, especially not in the humans they were manipulating. Pride turned to face the generals with a scowl.

"**I understand there are no objections. You must treat me with the respect you would give my Father, if not…" **They all stole a glance at the still protesting general Dixon, though he was struggling much more weakly now. **"I believe such a thing goes without saying." **The hapless toadies they were they nodded and bowed to him, which was for the best, humans couldn't think properly for themselves being such insects, it was better for everyone if they kept their mouths shut and did as they were ordered. **"Now, in order to create the circle perfectly we need to assess where the next crest shall be…" **With a slight reluctance Pride sat on his knees to see the map better, running a finger along each point and leaving a slender shadow stabbing through into the table in its place. The three vague points of the first pentagon stood out to him, and there were only two choices- one of the points would fall into Aerugan territory, which given the rift that had formed between the two countries after that _terrible accident _that severed their country's union with them, it would only be too easy to spill blood there.

"**Who is ruling Aerugo at the moment?" **Invading Aerugo was inevitable, but with another point a possibility it might be better to think in the now.

"King Ricardo VI, son of Queen Claudette III."

"**And of what relation are they to Claude?" **It was obvious Aerugo would be bitter at what had happened to their king those years ago, it would be easy to start a war if Aerugo hated Amestris enough.

"Claudette was Claude's granddaughter."

"**I see. Have Aerugo communicated with Amestris recently?"**

"Ricardo seems too peace loving, he and his family are much too concerned with trading with other countries, they wouldn't start a war with Amestris at this moment in time. He believes that, even though the union fell apart, staying neutral rather than fighting would be what Antoine would have wanted for the country, and he wishes to honour his memory by not being bitter over what happened, given it was only an accident." How unfortunate, well, humans didn't live long, soon enough this Ricardo would die and someone else would replace him, someone who did not have such false sentimental values hopefully.

"**Hm." **Pride moved his finger over to the point opposite the point where the civil war in Cameron took place, if they did something there that would make the pentagon perfect as it had been so far **"What's this?" **Lewis leaned over slightly to see what he was pointing at.

"That's Wellesley. Do you want us to cause bloodshed there instead of Aerugo?"

"**Yes, that will do fine for now, but don't waste time in instigating it, Father will not accept procrastinating on this."**

"Of course, Pride. We will begin plans immediately, my…_nin_e generals and I." Lewis glanced about a little, motioning him closer, whispering something in his ear about going to allow some of them to escape their commitments by transferring them to unimportant places if they weren't enthusiastic enough or didn't seem committed. That could work, he supposed, they'd never needed so many people with the monarchy, and a more spread out control for the less willing might have been more convenient. Lust and Greed and Envy could always visit to ensure everything was going to plan in the future. That might have been better, disposable of they were, if the generals kept dropping dead for no reason it would look particularly odd.

"**I, or one of my siblings, will return at a later date to tell you Father's decision on your suggestion, don't get your hopes up, you work for **_**us, **_**never forget that. Any of you. I will leave you to your own devices now, but there is something I must attend to before I leave." **Pride allowed himself a little smirk, hopping off the table, catching sight of Greed peeking through the door at him; he mouthed that he'd be a moment and turned his attention back to the task at hand.

"**You thought I'd forgotten about you? How presumptuous. Don't you have anything to say, human?" **Pride pulled the shadow covering his mouth away roughly, pressing his hand in before he did so, leaving bright red scratches across his face. The human only spat in his general direction, droplets of blood contained in it as it landed at his feet.

"**How civilized of you, Mister Dixon. Surely you'd want to die with **_**some **_**dignity, but what human even has such a thing?" **Mister Dixon only glared, though it was a feeble veneer, his fear far too obvious to disguise **"Your close-mindedness is what led to this, surely you did not believe that your **_**beloved Fuhrer **_**would allow such a **_defenseless _child into the meeting room without a good reason_, __**did you?**_**" **The sight of the general flinching and squirming in fear of his alternating tone was far too gratifying for how simple it was to carry out. **"It was no wonder Lewis chose you, you are so stupid you don't even realize it when you're being used." **Pride let the shadow in his stomach disperse, tearing into three separate tendrils, positioning them at three different points up his spine, cutting through anything seamlessly as he went ** "At least you don't need to work anymore." **He began to pull them closer to the bone, _slowly, _only smirking wider as he first brushed against it, digging in harder, but still excruciatingly slow.After a little while Pride decided the human didn't deserve to live a minute more, and while he would have reveled in making him suffer even more for his insolence, he didn't even deserve the effort Pride put into controlling his shadows "Bye-bye, Mister Dixon." Within seconds of each other each shadow tore completely through, starting from the top, pieces of flesh and bone falling to the floor as they burst in succession from his side. To stop him falling into his mouth Pride shot another shadow through his forehead, holding him there until he'd forced the teeth away, letting him crumple in a bloody unrecognizable mess immediately after, stepping back daintily to stop himself staining his clothes. No one said a word, though he heard the door click shut in the silence. Pride only made his most childish giggle, relishing at their terrified cowering as soon as it reached their ears, turning on his heels to return home to Father without another sound.

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Greed, where had Greed gone? It didn't make any sense; Pride had seen him, only moments before he slaughtered that human he'd been there, watching him through the partly open door, but by that logic Greed must have been the one who closed the door, why would he close it when he knew he would be there so soon after?

These thoughts ran in a constant loop through Pride's mind as he ran through the corridors of Central Headquarters, pushing past the sea of blue uniforms, ignoring the occasional query of whether he was lost, his child-like container working too well, he didn't need such hindering things right now. Out on the courtyard it was easier, less people, none of them Greed though, he needed to get out of here, wherever Greed had gone it was most likely in the streets of Central where he would be somewhat less conspicuous. While it might have been more sensible to simply remain where he was, some part of Pride knew that Greed had not simply wandered off, but the implications of what that meant were too horrible to even consider, Greed wasn't that stupid, Greed was a lot of things, but surely he couldn't be…?

When Pride caught sight of that out of place messenger bag turning to a back alley he thought he was hallucinating, but he didn't hesitate at all, keeping chase, not daring to stop for even a moment.

"Greed!" Pride called after him in his human voice, he wasn't so stupid as to use his true voice in public, even though the alleys were rather deserted. "Greed, what are you doing? !" His voice reverberated in the alley much like his true voice did constantly, and Greed turned his head, cursing under his breath, continuing to run from him. Though it was against his better judgment, Pride flung a shadow to bind Greed's arm, if anyone saw he'd simply need to kill them, he couldn't let Greed continue whatever nonsense thing he was doing. But Greed turned before he could wrap around him, swiping at his shadow with a sharp carbon covered hand, the tendril recoiling, flicking back at him until it cut completely across his face, from just beneath his right eye, over his nose before catching in his mouth and slicing through it and his cheek. No blood or lasting damage of course, but it was enough to make him stand and wait for himself to regenerate. Greed actually stopped as he realize what he'd done, and he snickered to himself

"Ha! And I thought this shield was a shit power! Managed to wipe that arse-kissing grin off your face didn't it?" Swearing might as well have been punctuation to Greed, but swearing at _him? _What had gotten into him?

"What are you doing, Greed? !" For the next minute or so while he healed Greed deflected every one of his shadows with his shield, though Pride made sure that none rebounded like before.

"Isn't it obvious?" Another half a dozen shadows bent out of shape as they hit his arms "I'm leaving Pops and you _slaves! _I'm an opportunist Big Bro; you were far too preoccupied killing that general guy to even notice me leave- the opportunity was there and I took it.I can't stand the thought of being screwed over all the time just so _perfect little daddy _can have his stupid dream. If his dream's so bloody important he can get up off his lazy arse and do it himself. I have ambitions too, I ain't gonna give them up just because Pops's standing in my way!" As Greed saw the flashes of his regeneration begin to die down he started to run again, and Pride did the same immediately after, doing his utmost to not let Greed leave his sight. Father would punish Greed for such impertinence, maybe even kill him, he couldn't let Greed escape such punishment, Father would be so _ashamed _of him if he was so lax as to allow such a thing. But running as fast as he could while directing his shadows was taking its toll on him, his vision blurring, head beginning to swim. Noticing the lethargy in his shadows Greed stole a glance at him

"Getting tired yet? On your pathetic tiny legs I'd be surprised if you weren't. Take a nap, I'm sure Pops won't mind when you skulk back to him and say you didn't manage to catch your little brother more than half your age!" Pride didn't give him the satisfaction of replying, merely gritting his teeth, the shadows forming teeth of their own, though he forced them away almost immediately to conserve his energy "Oh, getting pissed are we? But I thought you said you couldn't get angry since it aint your sin, you sure you aint Wrath in disguise? Would explain why Pops's still so much of a pompous prick at least."

"How…How _**da**__re_ yousl**ander Father with such vulgar human words!**" Pride hadn't meant to shriek in his true voice for all to hear, the shadows had begun to writhe under his skin with such force that they'd loosened their grip around his container's vocal cords, causing him to shake as well. Attacking from long distances was no good, just catching up with Greed normally and then ensnaring him in his shadows would be much easier, not to mention it would allow him to pursue Greed for longer, Pride shamefully admitting to himself that if he kept up trying to push his container to his maximum ability and use his shadows simultaneously he would faint from the strain before very long, and so far it had proved ineffective anyway, there was no point continuing to use that strategy.

Pride didn't know his container could run so fast, though after a moment he realized he wasn't _meant _to run this fast, beneath his trousers he could feel his skin beginning to flake, little chips and tiny holes forming all along his legs, but he was only a dozen or so feet away from Greed now, he couldn't give up when he was so close, even if it meant damaging his container. His eyes lit up, a delighted smile stretching across his face, Father would praise him so much for catching Greed, and that made everything worth it really. He stretched his container's hand out so as to direct his shadow perfectly in a few moments, if he could catch up a little _more _then he—

Burning. He was burning_ .Everything_ was _burning_, the air itself like acid scorching him, like a poison seeping through his pores deep into every part of him starting from his outstretched arm, the searing pain so severe in his fingertips that he couldn't think straight. Pride stopped dead in his tracks, pulling away with such violence he toppled backwards, skidding along the floor, anything to get as far away as he could, however unintentional. His left arm felt strange, numb, and as he pushed himself to his feet to inspect it he watched it fracture, cracking in little patterns like one of those jigsaws, it turning black before it crumbled, dissolving instantly into a pile of grey dust. The shadows that once controlled it- the five little hands that had no joints of their own so had to direct each finger individually- shook at their new freedom in the open air, but they became jagged and shuddered, becoming wisp-like and sagging limply over his cuffs as they did the same. Pride only had time to stare in silent shock at the hole in his arm before the sharp agony tore through him again. No matter how hard he tried to resist Pride couldn't prevent the scream that wrenched itself from his throat.

Greed stopped and stared at him for a moment, though he barely noticed as he continued to screech at the pain that persisted even though the half of his arm and shadows had disintegrated to nothing, despite the excruciating pain shooting through his body it did nothing to try and regenerate, as if it couldn't. The sudden density in the air muffled the sound of Greed laughing at him

There it was, that feeling of death and suffocation and wretched confinement, he was so close to his barrier and he hadn't even noticed, if he'd taken just another step he would be… he shuddered at the thought, pressing his remaining half an arm into his chest to try and soothe it, folding his sleeve over it so no one would notice.

"Aww, what's the matter, reached the end of your chain? C'mon, let's see how loyal you _really_ are, just hop on over here so you can die thinking Pops actually gave a shit about you for trying, suicide for his sake, now _that's _dedication_. _You call yourself Pops's favourite when he put you under lock and key and would happily let you _die _if you stray too far?" The pain was still there, a blunt yet still almost unbearable throbbing under his skin, but he managed to keep standing and glare.

"**Father… l-loves me, he's doing his, ugh, best to extend where I can go without dying, he made this container for me and that's enough to show how much he values me." **Greed only scoffed

"But Pops's body's a container too, and he came here all the way from freaking _Xerxes_, why doesn't he have any of your problems then, eh?"

"**Father's body is perfect, only his can be perfect." **It took every fibre of his being to stop himself wishing to wipe that smile off Greed's face, but he knew he couldn't, Greed wasn't worth dying over, dying _and _letting Greed escape was too shameful an idea to bear.

"But we're all part of Pops aren't we? Oh hey, since you're the oldest, why does that automatically make you his favourite?" Greed, stupid ignorant Greed, trying to goad him into attacking him with such nonsense.

"**Father cared enough about me to grant me life before any of you, so he must love me the most." **It was only logical, of course it was, but Greed looked down at him over his glasses and laughed.

"Nah, Big Bro you're all backward. Pops's getting _rid _of his sins, that means you're the one he wanted to get shut of _first_, because he probably couldn't stand the thought of you being a part of him anymore so he just shat you out without thinking about it! He must've really hated you if he had to get you out of his soul so fast! If anything, Gluttony's got more of a chance of actually being _loved _by him, or whatever you wanna call it, than you ever had." Pride's eyes had widened, how could Greed concoct such a feeble lie like that to even _attempt_ to have an effect on him, and yet… something hurt deep inside him, soft and hardly there at all, but far more painful than that of breaching his barrier all the same. Scowling was all he could do to push the feeling away.

"**Shut up, Greed! Even if I can't leave Central, we _will _find you, and Father will kill you for being so treacherous!"**

"He'll have to catch me first. Sure, fine, he can kill me if he wants, it's what he's gonna do to all of us once the Promised Day rolls around, no one keeps around things with no purpose so it's pretty obvious, I'd rather check out early, then again, you won't find me."

"**You don't deserve to be a part of his soul, insolent wretch; don't even call yourself a homunculus anymore, you're no better than a human!"**

"Oh? Don't you call me a sorry excuse for a homunculus; you're nothing but a growth on Pops's side, never thinking for yourself, that's worse than anything I'll do. If I never see you or Pops again it'll be too soon anyway." Greed didn't say anything more, turning on his heels and casually walking away, teasingly slowly just to patronise him, giving him a backwards wave. Pride scowled his most vicious scowl, shrieking after him as he went, knowing that if he'd produced such a shriek with his human voice his vocal cords would have been damaged, maybe even snapped from the strain.

"**Gladly, I don't care to see you again, you barely exist to me, when we find you- and we **_**will **_**find you- I won't be there to watch you die, you don't deserve to even **_**see**_** me or Father again!" **As Pride watched him slowly disappear from view he took some precautionary strides back, before the pain flared up inside him again and he collapsed from the sudden exhaustion, falling onto his knees, clenching his teeth and his remaining hand, the shadows inside him twisting in their frustration at the futility of it all.

Father would surely punish him; it was all he deserved after all, for being so foolish as to disobey him. Pride didn't notice as it started raining, remaining completely still in his place, trying to piece together everything, imagine how he could tell Father what had happened. Pride only curled into himself, bowing his head, clenching his teeth tighter and squeezing his eyes shut, trying to breathe more evenly to calm himself.

He didn't know how the drops of rain had managed to fall on his cheeks though, or why they were warm either.

Father would be so ashamed of him.

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A/N: Greed has officially left the fic (maybe)! I'm actually kinda unhappy to see him go, since he's at least a tolerable homunculus (third worst aint so bad I guess), then again swearing so much and writing him being so much of an arse is kinda draining so maybe it's for the best ^^;

See you guys in April~!


	43. Schism

A/N: Hello everyone, now that I'm off school for Easter I've decided to update both this week and next week ^^ Now this is a special chapter this week, as I've tried to be a little experiment-y in that this is all going to be told from Lust's point of view, hope it went well ^^

Previous reviewers:

Violetlight:

I'm glad you liked the scene with the general's, it was really annoying for me to write so I'm happy it turned out ok ^^

Well, not really, I had it in my mind that Greed had been planning to run away for a while since he collected that 3000 cenz, he was going to run away but Pride's killing Dixon so bad just convinced him that he might not get another chance at it so he just scarpered ^^;

Moofy-Fan:

Aw, no it's fine, goodness how long it's taking me to review your fics, sorry ^^;; 

Yeah, Lust and Pride are really drifting apart these days, as you will see very much this chapter. 

Yay, I'm glad his meeting with the generals went well, I was kidna nervous about doing it, and it was the part that gave me the most trouble writing it ^^; I'm glad you liked his voice switch-y thing, I abuse it too much so I'm happy you aren't sick of it ^^;

Yep, I just knew that if Pride reached the end of his barrier Greed wouldn't be able to believe his luck and would happily taunt him for a while before running away properly ^^

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Forty-Three: Schism **

Her woman's intuition, that horribly human quality of hers that knew things none of her siblings did, that could detect things immediately before any of them, both useful yet awful at the same time, that she abused without thinking anyway. It was that woman's intuition that told her instantly that something had happened, something terrible, the way Pride had pushed the doors to Father's lair so forcefully, sopping wet, losing his footing as he did, quietly cursing something that he probably thought was below him in its vulgarity but was anything but really, he mustn't have been in a good mood if he was spewing a 'swear' for just falling over. She grimaced a little as the feeling of dread bubbled up inside her at not seeing Greed behind him, or the way Pride had only pushed himself up with one hand and almost thrown himself down the stairs, his head low and ashamed.

Father didn't move from his chair, nor did she from Father's table, watching Pride curiously, absentmindedly rubbing her hand over Gluttony's head. Gluttony wouldn't understand why she was concerned, she _might_ have been concerned, but not concerned enough to actually move, he'd only hiss and shout at her and insist he was perfectly fine if she tried to help him. His cheeks were flush, eyes puffy and pink, he must have been grateful the rain had washed away his most-obviously-cried tears. Something flickered near his left sleeve, and he winced and pulled it to his stomach as he trudged up to Father's chair, bowing even lower than he usually did.

"Welcome back, Pride. Where is Greed?" an unmistakable shudder ran through him at the mention of his younger sibling, and Lust only crossed her legs, where _had _Greed gone for Pride to be so jittery?

"**Father…I…" **with every little tremor and flinch he sank lower, until he was on his knees and staring nervously up at Father, his arrogance almost non-existent, though it was always like that when he was in Father's presence, gutted and pushed away with the least bit of effort. "Please forgive me, Father. Greed he—he ran away, I pursued him but…"

"Hm? Greed has defected from me?" He sounded more disappointed than surprised

"H-he said he didn't want to serve you anymore, I told him how foolish he was being, but he wouldn't listen. I would have returned him to you for punishment, but I…I foolishly breached the limit of where you have allowed me to travel." Lust raised her eyebrow, trying to push down the sudden anxiety insider her, if Pride went past that point he'd die, Father had drilled that into her so much how could Pride breach it so easily with so few noticeable differences? Father seemed mildly perturbed as well, but said nothing "Please forgive me…" it was a forlorn, desperate plea, little more than a shrill whisper that she barely caught. Lust could see him shaking even from this distance, despite how tightly his hand was digging into his arm, she understood with a shadow of a frown. Pride was waiting for Father to punish him, but being the cowardly thing he was he was so terrified of what Father would do to him that he couldn't stop himself trembling. He didn't speak a word, only steeling himself as Father's hand rested on his head, not daring to move an inch; did Pride think Father was going to kill him? Surely Father wouldn't…he may have not valued any of them very much, but losing two homunculi in one day was counterproductive to say the least. A few moments passed, and Pride slowly lifted his head, opening his eyes, releasing the breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"**You…aren't punishing me, Father?" **Lust tsked at how obvious the relief was in his voice, distorted as it was, the nervous, twitchy Pride he used to be could never be hidden beneath his countless veneers when he was with Father, he was far too afraid of him to even consider doing something like that.

"You are not at fault. Only Greed can be blamed for being foolish enough to desert his loving Father. You did all you could, Pride. Thank you for informing me of this, I am certain that we shall capture Greed in good time." A rather sincere smile in Pride-terms tugged at his mouth, but he winced and held his arm, curling into himself with a groan as fragmented sparks of red crackled around him, flickering out before anything happened.

"Is something wrong, Pride?" Sadistic as always, Father wouldn't fix Pride unless he admitted there was something wrong _to _be fixed. It was a redundancy, Pride wouldn't hide something from Father, he didn't have enough pride inside himself when he was with Father for that.

"**I…when my arm broke through my barrier it dissolved, but I think it's…spreading to the rest of my container." **

"I see. Did any of your external shadows breach the barrier?" Pride paused for a minute to think, but settled for shaking his head. "That is good. Otherwise you most likely would have died instantly, as, had the shadow not been shielded by your container's skin, it would have spread immediately and dissolved every shadow inside you." Father probably relished in the way Pride's eyes widened and he shivered at the very thought of it. Father knew how to manipulate him perfectly, exploiting Pride's fear of death to ensure he remained forever loyal.

"**I'm sorry for being so neglectful to breach the outline you created to protect me, Father."** Pride flinched as a quiet _crack _sounded from his shoulder, no doubt the skin beginning to flake there too, it must have been excruciating. Father only smiled and lifted Pride onto his lap, unbuttoning his jacket to better examine him. His sleeve might as well have been completely flat, and as Father pushed it up she could see the thin shadow growing out from the gap where his arm should have been, sparking and flickering yet never fully breaking apart, though she knew that it was only there at all in his shadow's desperate attempt to keep the bones of his human hidden from view, she hoped they wouldn't dissolve before Father could repair his container, _that _issue was not something that needed to be dug up, now or ever again. With only a touch of his finger a soft red light shone from beneath Pride's remaining skin, bleeding down, new skin knitting itself as it went along, identical to his previous. The shadow that stopped as a wrist grew, splitting into five thin hands as the skin folded around it, forming new fingers effortlessly.

Once the sparks had faded Pride allowed himself a happy sigh, no doubt the pain had subsided somewhat, if not completely. Lust wished she wasn't that tiniest bit pleased, such a sincere smile he managed to form around Father, one that had become exclusive to Father alone long ago, but anything was better than seeing him distraught, nervous, anything but happy, even if most of the time that happiness was sadistic glee. She wished she could simply ignore him, and not still have the sliver of consideration for him; he had stopped caring about her further back than she thought he could remember. The both of them still smiling, Father pulled Pride to his chest, feigning the motions of being a loving parent, none too well, but she knew Pride didn't care, he probably didn't even realize it wasn't real. Father only had wrath left inside him, so it was all too obvious he was furious inside, but he was veiling it as best he could, he knew it was inefficient if he gave the impression he wasn't loving, given that Greed had run away without so much as a reluctant thought by the looks of it. It didn't matter, all of them were loyal somewhat, they wouldn't be so stupid as to consider running away, at least, not while _Pride_ was with them. Greed never did have good timing. Greed could get away with leaving, he could even leave the country and become none of their business, but that would mean learning a new language and getting a job to make money, which was probably too much effort for him, God forbid Greed do proper work.

Lust knew that such thoughts were far beyond what Pride could even grasp, he hadn't been raised that way, Father was the only constant thing he'd ever had in his miserable, lonely little life, to lose Father's grace would be a fate worse than death, if he was dead he couldn't feel ashamed. But not being able to make amends might have been even worse. It was probably for the best Pride didn't long for anything other than Father's love, whether such a thing existed or not. Pride was Father's favourite for a reason, and while his sadism was helpful, it was more because he was the only one that would never be able to leave Father's side. If Pride strayed too far he would die, but she was all too aware that if Father even caught the tiniest hint of Pride having anything but wholehearted devotion to him, he wouldn't hesitate in destroying him.

Lust was happy Pride was still too ignorant to see that though.

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**October 22nd 1818**

She wasn't stupid. She understood, she knew he'd never be the same as he used to be. In front of Father he might have been the same, shadows and cruelty aside, but with her, with any of her siblings he would never be anything but spiteful because he hadn't an ounce of respect for them anymore. They might as well have been humans he didn't care that much, becoming so like Father in a deep, futile hope that it would make Father love him more, and if Father could even do that then he'd be less likely to wish harm on him should something arise again where he'd do something shameful.

All these things cobbled together was what ended up making her so dumfounded when she found him standing at the doorway to her room, a more mischievous than malicious smirk curling on his face, he would never have even formed such a smile if Envy or Gluttony had been with her, he never smiled around either of them anymore, and he always too exhausted to form any expression on his container those times when he sent his shadows to keep Sloth in line. Lust returned the coy smile as best she could as he ran his fingers along his scarf- the scarf she'd bought for him, maybe it was something more than a habit, but that was so pointless a wish it barely even crossed her mind before she disregarded it.

"Hello there, Pride."

"**Hello, Lust." **For him to be so pleasant with her he must have been either bored beyond belief, or Envy had imitated Greed and spiked Pride's drink, neither were very good explanations, but she did appreciate him speaking to her in a half-way sincere manner.

"Not attending to Sloth today?"

"**Father wanted me to do something recreational while I am not supervising Sloth." **She hmmed and nodded with another coy look, he was so pitiable that way, having no possessions of his own he had to come crawling back to her when Father didn't give him anything to do, _her_, who he would rather not talk to for months at a time.

"Oh? Then what does that have to do with me?"

"**I want to play Chess, and you're the only one who can play it properly." **His guard was down today, he hadn't taken the precaution of clarifying whether the only ones who could play properly was limited to them or to something else… he was used to her affectionate teasing by now, he probably wouldn't do anything _too_ harsh.

"Is that including Father or…?" There it was, that wonderful little glaring scowl, when he was younger he would make a vague imitation of that scowl, more hurt than annoyed, mostly in response to pain when he had caught that horrible influenza, or in mild irritation when little Sylvie would step out of line and tease him (eventually she learned to either say she was joking immediately before he got upset or kept her mouth shut completely). There was only one time when he'd ever scowled his poison scowl to her when he was ignorant…she supposed she should have realised then that there was something terrible inside him, that only needed to be nurtured and pushed the tiniest bit before it would grow and consume every other part of him…

_Lust…why did you…why did you make Sylvie sad…_upset_?_

That fleeting hate he held for her in those moments should have been a clear warning, even when he forgave her completely the day after. It was all pointless longing for the past now, that hateful glower might as well have been his only facial expression these days. As it was now.

"**It goes without saying that Father has no time for petty human games, regardless of how adept he is at them. I am merely playing because he has instructed me to." **

"Of course. Well, I'll set the board up then, wouldn't want you ruining your darling fragile little container now, would we?" Ever since it had become damaged he'd been more wary than usual, never acting too forceful for fear his shadows would come bursting up through his skin and never heal by itself, he didn't want to rely on Father to fix him again, he thought it too shameful if it was his own fault for not keeping his nonexistent emotions in check. Such things had left him at their mercy somewhat; outside of the shadows he could summon outside his container the container itself was little less extraordinary, only being able to reproduce a level of strength and running speed agreeable with his human's structure. Though this had always been the case, he didn't want to waste souls on repairing his torn container anyway; his wariness had made it even less so, which amused her in a strange sort of way, how defenseless he would be in a place where his shadows couldn't materialize outside him.

With a quaint grin she picked up her small table from the corner of her room and set it down in the middle instead, setting the chair at one end and dragging her stool to the other. Pride managed to sit on the chair with less difficulty than she imagined he would, but stealing a glance under the table she saw the quick flick of shadow that he'd used to push himself a little higher as it seeped away.

"You want to play with knights or not?" His fear of horses may have been pushed so far down inside of him he'd forgotten about it, but she wouldn't put anything past him, he probably didn't even know how knights worked as chess pieces.

"**Why would I not want to play with a **_**complete **_**chess set, Lust?" **Same old stubborn, awkward Pride, pretending he hadn't been the one who had begged her to dispose of the 'horrible' pieces years ago with tears in his eyes. But just having Pride wanting to spend time with her was such a rare occurrence she didn't feel like trying to subvert him, she might as well have one 'real' chess game with him in her life.

He could use black today; he'd always used black before so he couldn't find something to fault her on immediately, if he _liked_ not having the first move that was his problem. She set the board out without a word, leaving the four knights in the middle so she could explain how they moved properly.

"Now, Pride, these knights are very special pieces. Like the others they move in a certain way, this one you can only move in an 'L' shape, like this." She moved the little wooden piece in the usual one-two movement more than once so Pride could see it properly "It's also the one piece that can jump over other pieces, so if there's a piece in the way of where you want to go it doesn't matter." Seeing that he wasn't very interested in what these knights that he despised did she sighed and handed the black ones back to him, ready to start without another word.

It didn't surprise Lust at all when Pride experimentally lifted his left-hand knight and studied it curiously, placing it down again with a shrug, she should have told him that he wasn't allowed to not move a piece once he'd touched it, but she'd be nice just this once. He only picked up the pawn in front of the queen forward the allowed two spaces and smirked, more than a little pleased with himself- he must have remembered that he'd never lost a game against her, never mind that all those times she'd _let _him win no matter what happened, but as he had changed, so had she, and she wouldn't give him the courtesy of winning this time. She was going to be a little selfish for once and actually _try_, and _win _like she should have dozens of times before if she hadn't been so soft with her then innocent big brother. She only moved the pawn in front of the king one square forward to allow her to move her bishop the next turn. He smirked, picking up the same knight again; dragging it along through the air two squares and up to occupy the space where the queen-guarding pawn had been one move before. Pride had always had an affinity for queens, why was he not intending to use her immediately like he so often did before? Maybe he had adapted. This was going to be such an…interesting game to say the least. She moved her bishop out onto the main playing field with a smile.

…

She was wrong. She had it all wrong from the start. The whole board was a shambles, the whole left side a mishmash of three of his pawns and two of hers and her bishop and her knight, tangled together in a way in which no one could move nor take another. the bishop and knight could move, but they had a purpose. Pride hadn't touched his knight all game, she would punish him, entrap it wherever it would go with the help of her other knight and bishop scattered elsewhere, but close enough to prevent it from moving anywhere without meeting certain death, to tell him how useful an asset he was wasting. He'd ignored his bishops and rooks, unflinching as she stole them away unceasingly, only calmly moving pawns and his ever precious queen about, flittingly wherever she wanted with boundless freedom as she took Lust's own queen, and her spare rook and almost every pawn with ease. They'd been playing so seriously, their eighty-eight year mental war manifest here now, and so wispily she'd ignored his pawns, pawns weren't important, and yet now he had another queen at his disposal as the insignificant little thing had reached _her _side of the board with such little resistance in her indifference to it and her preoccupation in humiliating him so thoroughly. Pride's king stood proud and unmoving, he hadn't touched it once, revering its importance too much, only protecting it with that single knight that had moved but once, like he'd forgotten about it.

Her own king was cornered and helpless now; even her faithful rook could not assist him, even if it took the pawn turned queen his real Queen would still be there, would move to check her again elsewhere, and the pawn was in the King's own taking distance anyway. She'd been a fool, conceited and looking too close to see the obvious threat that had been there all along, she knew it was hopeless, she _knew_, and she knew that was exactly what he was about to do.

Lust saw him blink curiously, glancing between his two queens and the pawn a few squares away from them both. He understood that pawns could only go forward most of the time, confined, but loyal and obedient, and that with perseverance they became queens as he had observed. She could see instantly once he figured it out, his eyes lighting up, lips curling up in his most poisonous smirk as he leaned forward to pick up the innocent looking pawn, pushing it forward so that it was one square diagonal to her King.

"**I believe that this is Checkmate, Lust. Looks like I've won again."**

"Indeed it does." She sighed, skewering the piece once neatly through its centre, quickly retracting her nail so that it unbalanced, clattering quietly on the table as it fell over.

It was just her luck that it rolled off the table afterwards, wasn't it?

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**September 9th 1829**

_Where's Greed gone, Lust?_

_When's he coming back?_

Gluttony's innocence was a nice change to the darkness and corruption and deceit that consumed their lives, he still thought that Greed was only on holiday or something and that he'd be back any day now. Lust wished she could think the same as well, it might have made her a little happier to say the least, but such deception to herself would require her to actually accept that he was gone in the first place, which would entail believing those things he had said. Father may have not cared about them at all, but they could still be a family of sorts, they still cared about each other, why didn't Greed understand that at least half of them loved him? Besides, it had been _his _idea to have another party for his hundredth birthday those years ago, and he just decided to leave like that? Lust knew it was in his nature to be spontaneous, but he must have been happy wherever he was if he hadn't come skulking back with his tail between his legs.

_Or he's dead._

Such a silly thought, she pushed it out of her mind in an instant. Greed was a lot of things, but stupid enough to let himself die was not one of them. Still, she hadn't been that firm with Greed when he was young, how could she be, with no Father to discipline him properly, to teach him to despise humans as she did? Maybe it was because Greed was an adult, not naïve and innocent like Pride had been, she was naïve a tad back then too, she didn't know how to teach someone how to hate, she'd been born with that hate and it had only worsened given her experiences with humans, Greed was…not, she supposed.

Envy had been a little better, so helpless in that lizard-like form, it had appealed to that horrible maternal part of her that Pride had left a gaping hole in once he matured enough to stop caring about her.

But Gluttony, Gluttony was a darling little brother, naïve and innocent, he didn't understand that the people he ate died, much like how perhaps Pride did not understand such an alien concept as death when he first heard about it, but Gluttony's innocence was endless and something she didn't think he could ever escape from, which might have been for the best, for her at least, selfish as that was. She liked to tell herself that it was not that innocence that reminded her of how Pride used to be was what made her dote on Gluttony, she couldn't be that selfish, only humans could be selfish, she loved Gluttony as any sibling should love another and that was the most selfless thing she could do. Father didn't love any of them, but he seemed to not love Gluttony the least, if that was possible, she didn't really understand it, Father hated Pride's naïveté back then, and had spent over a decade tearing it from him by forcing him to kill under the pretense that it would make Father love him even a little. That might have been because Pride had potential though, while Gluttony did not, Gluttony was not the Gate Father coveted, and would never be, did Father think that if he left Gluttony alone another use would emerge from him? Lust had no doubts that Father would be so clinical with thoughts of worth and usefulness in his children.

Lust flicked through her cookbook again, the book Greed had bought for her on her one hundred and nineteenth birthday, he'd bought it her with friendly teasing purely because of its alternate title- _The ladies' library containing the _cheapest_ or most extensive system of cookery. _She'd cooked for Envy and Gluttony using it in the August when he'd left, it was the first time she'd truly acknowledged that he was gone, and she'd shamefully cried into her lamb stew and glass of syllabub (without Greed to coax her into it there would be no wine ever again, at least for now, desserts and water would have to do), but no one was going to be mentioning that any time soon. It was about time she used it again and cooked something else for them, maybe veal; veal was very popular among the higher classes these days…

Pattering little footsteps echoed along the hall to her room, obvious little footfalls pottering closer, belonging to one who hadn't spoken a word to her in the last few years, but she'd seen him glaring, as she fussed over Gluttony, cooing nonsense as she wiped his mouth free of blood, seen his poison drenched stare from across the room, his shadows billowing behind him with an occasional twitch or spasm running along them, eight or more eyes bobbing in and out of the inky blackness, all of them, with their magenta raindrop and their bloody-scribbled fake capillaries, glaring just as venomously.

He was at her doorway now, shadows creeping in without being invited, spreading along the walls as if he thought it could unnerve her, he'd forgotten that she'd been the one who had seen his shadows back when they were merely harmless, wispy grey extensions of his true shadow that would react to his emotions, rippling gently when he was happy and spiking up and receding when he got frightened.

"**I wonder why you are still insisting on fraternizing with the **_**failure, **_**Lust." **Lust knew such critical thoughts would never be voiced to Father, and she knew to counter his awkwardness with the coyness she was accustomed to; the tiniest part of him still loved her too much to do anything drastic in response to her toying.

"And who would you be referring to in _that _remark, Pride?" She almost laughed at the thought that she had once gone out of her way to make him happy, putting up with his human pet for those twelve years and begging for Father to repair his flask and waiting ten years to see him while he got corrupted and accepting every punishment for letting him get hurt without a murmur. She still cared for him like one might care a tad for their old obligations in a nostalgic way, but not like she used to, she was too jaded to care for someone like that ever again.

"**You know very well that I am referring to Gluttony, Lust. Do not attempt to lower your intelligence another **_**speck **_**closer to his; it is shameful, as he is in his very **_**existence**_**." **It was no secret that Pride didn't like Gluttony (well, it was still a secret to Father for self-preservation reasons), but to the extent that he despised the fact that Gluttony was even _alive_?

"My, such disrespect for your siblings, for other pieces of Father's very _soul, _Pride. I wonder what he would say if he heard you talking like this." It wouldn't come out of her of course, Father was too detached to have even heard of the human phrase of not shooting the messenger, she'd be punished for knowing such things and not telling him within _the millisecond _of having heard it, and by Father's logic that was protecting Pride by withholding treasonous information, which wouldn't end well for her. Pride ignored her, carrying on without missing a beat, he didn't consider his own hypocrisy, and ignored it completely if he was aware of it somewhere inside himself.

"**You are intelligent enough a homunculus to understand that he is so simple minded that he is a failure of a homunculus and a disgrace to our very species, that serves no purpose to Father and therefore should not deserve to live." **

"You're going to say he's better off dead just because he isn't as smart as us? He's only just past forty years old, Pride. What, you want him as smart as you 'n' all your two-hundred years plus of experience, eh? And what about Sloth, do you want him dead too?" Pride shook his head with another scowl, his teeth flashing a little this time

"**Sloth actually has a purpose though, Gluttony does not, and his birth as a failure of a Gate means that he shall never have a **_**true **_**purpose either." **Lust remembered something, that day when Pride was asleep in his flask and Father showed her his true form, helpless little thing it was, Father had spoke something of how much it would have resembled the Truth had it had been a success like he had intended. Pride would never believe her about something like that, and her obligation to never let him know about _that_ prevented it from forming a suitable argument.

"You were _young and stupid _once too, or did you forget, push it down so far you got convenient amnesia?" as the words sank in he flinched, shadow shrinking back with him a little. Maybe she'd hit a nerve, Pride never wanted to recall his past, he must've hated that part of himself, containing everything that he hated about Gluttony, or maybe that was only himself forced _onto _Gluttony. "Just because he learns slowly doesn't mean he can't have a purpose. If we ignore him he'll never learn, Father instructed me to take care of him and I will do my utmost in doing so." Pride recovered after a moment, and only scoffed, his shadows rippling a little with something of a smirk, teeth reemerging, curving up from their constant frowning.

"**Oh, I'm sure that will work. Just like it did for Greed!" **He realized that his sporadic insult to her had some sort of grounding he could latch onto, and he grew bolder** "If you hadn't been so soft and **_**human**_** Greed wouldn't have been able to even have such rebellious thoughts never mind even **_**consider**_** running away!"** It was Pride's turn to strike a chord with her, it might have been true, she was far too distracted back then, far too concerned with Pride's absence and Father's neglect to teach Greed as best she could, something she was making up for with Envy and Gluttony, but it'd never be good enough. She stood up from the bed now, forming a glare of her own

"_Me_? _I _didn't do a good enough job? At least _I _tried. You're older than me, who said you didn't have to help me teach Greed how to behave? _No, _you had to disappear for ten years and have us go out collecting humans for you to slaughter!" She might as well not be arguing back at all, he was so buried beneath his retorts that he didn't care what she was saying back.

"**In fact, it's **_**all **_**your fault he ran away! You were so stubborn that day; if you'd just agreed to come with me then he wouldn't have had the opportunity to abandon us!" **Of course, blame her; none of it was ever his fault for anything.

"Do you think he did that randomly? I'm sure he would have run away whenever he got the chance, do you think he'd be stupid enough to leave just because he was with you? I know you think you're better than all of us but Greed isn't completely incompetent!" The shadows were stirring, splitting into tendrils and sharp little hands, peeling from the wall. Lust let her nails extend fully just to be cautious, she already knew that her nails were as efficient as Greed's shield, she didn't doubt that she could slice though them if need be.

"**Defending that traitor now? He is even lower than Gluttony, not even a homunculus anymore, almost as low as a human. You really are pathetic, Lust!" **her first swipe at the shadow lunging towards her was haphazard to say the least, but it cut rather smoothly, the eye encased in it widening as it dissolved. Lust knew he could materialize far more than she could cut through, and once or twice he threw extra tendrils towards her that intentionally missed her. Whether he was too reluctant to spill her blood or was taunting her was something she didn't want to consider. Soon she grew tired and considered sending her lance straight through his head like before, but when push came to shove she stopped right between his eyes, only pressing hard enough so that he felt it. The shadows stilled, and he only shook his head in disappointment, pushing his scarf behind him.

"**You shouldn't be so foolish, Lust, I would have expected better of my oldest sibling. I won't inform Father of your potentially treasonous remarks and actions today." **They exchanged a glare before he tsked in disdain and turned away. Lust was happy to leave him to calm down, but a spiteful, poisonous thought rose up in her mind, she _wanted_ to win this argument, she _wanted_ him to _suffer_ and come crawling back to her.

"I'd rather be foolish than selfish, you only won't tell Father because he'll punish you for not keeping me in check!" She huffed, crossing her arms; she barely heard his quiet gasp "I thought only humans could be selfi-"

Lust hadn't anticipated it, hadn't seen the sharp toothy tendril barreling towards her, maybe because she couldn't, it only making its presence known as the wash of pain and colour in the back of her head, until she was on her knees as it dug though into the stone floor and locked in place. She couldn't move, could only choke on the shadow piercing through her head and out her mouth, blood tricking down around it. The little footsteps were there again, but this time they were little wet ones. His hand tightened in her hair and yanked her head up to face him, the shadow forming a bend in it to accommodate the change in position, just so it wouldn't kill her immediately.

"**You are so petty, Lust, calling me selfish behind my back."** His mouth wasn't moving, the shadow speaking inside her head, echoing all around her** "I'm not weak like you" **The shadow's teeth began to separate, mouth and nonexistent jaws opening _slowly, _the intentionally blunt edges pushing the sides of the jagged incision he'd made; she couldn't even scream**"I don't think in such human ways like you." **Through her blurred, bleary vision she could only make out his eyes, clear as day, filled with the deepest contempt for her in that moment, not a speck of that purity that once encompassed them so effortlessly inside them.** "I do not wish to speak to you again. I would be content in never laying eyes on you again, but I know that will not happen." **She couldn't agree more, she'd been naïve, even now she'd been careless and stupid in longing for the past. As the shadow continued to push apart and split her skull in two (_why_ was she still alive?) she became too lightheaded to see, only hallucinating, her mind forcing her to see the truth now, that little innocent older brother of hers, in his oversized white robe and sash of the most brilliant violet, who didn't know the meaning of despair or hate. The image burned away as the shadow's mouth shot agape, one side breaking out. She could hear him laughing in her head, spiting her and her futile hopes. He didn't love her, he didn't love anyone, he couldn't even understand such things, couldn't understand anything outside blind loyalty to Father. Lust knew that the only thing pouring out of her eyes was blood. A soft swipe of a no jointed hand was there to pull her legs and arms out from underneath her, just so Pride could watch her fall, humiliate her even further. The shadow quivered, fading away with something that sounded like a hiss as the little footsteps became quieter, more of an echo now, leaving her a sparking, bloody heap on the floor.

Pride was right, in a way, she didn't need to protect him, didn't even need to think about him anymore, he clearly didn't think anything of her. She wondered when he would finally realize that Father was exactly the same way. It was an inevitability, but Lust knew she wouldn't be alive to see such a moment.

The only time Pride would ever admit such a thing to himself would be when Father was gleefully plucking the last human soul out of him, and leaving his own for dead. Such loneliness he would feel. Oh, how he would languish for even an ounce of the care she'd once held for him then.

She couldn't_ wait._

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Phew, hope that was ok everyone ^_^

Now, there was tons of symbolism in the chess game so I'll just post the gist of it ^^

-Pride's checkmate is only made using two queens (using a promoted pawn) and a pawn, to show that he's only concerned with using people and the other pieces aren't important to him.

-He never moves the king to show Father's always stationary on the sidelines.

-He uses a queen because it can move anywhere and is therefore the most 'useful', I take this to show his longing to be able to travel freely and move anywhere so as to be able to serve Father more efficiently. Pride is also shown as a queen in the Fullmetal alchemist chess set

-Pride's indifference to using knights, since he's never played using knights before it shows he's stubborn to new ideas and would rather ignore them, which is why he doesn't move out the way as Lust tries to corner it.

-Lust is more focused on using bishops and knights, who are more unorthodox in their moving patterns, and moves the king around a lot, but never focuses on using the queen, and eventually gets so preoccupied in Pride's knight to show him up that she leaves the king vulnerable, and that it's her desire to actually win for once and win well that costs her the game

Hope that all makes some sort of sense ^^;

See you all next week ^^


	44. Expressions of Hate and Love

A/N this is so late in the day, 3AM. I really should have started writing this earlier …

Anyway it was my birthday yesterday, so a bit of this chapter is my first writing as a 17 year old, yay ^_^

This chapter I've been planning for ages, so I hope it turned out all right ^_^

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-Fan:

I'm glad you liked the writing from Lust's POV, I really enjoyed, though it was probably because I got to rant a whole awful lot ^^; Yeah, I was a bit wishy washy on how people were supposed to feel about Pride that chapter, because he's very fluffy around Father but not with anyone else ^^; 

Oh don't worry I'm terrible at Chess too, so I was kinda nervous about writing it since I don't really know how a chess game could progress how it did but I'm glad you liked it. Yes, yes indeed, Pride didn't have that silly fear of horses no siree ¬_¬

I know right, I warned ya, even I was like "woah thar Pride that's a bit much, you dick." Which explains why this chapter I…well :3

Yeah, even after all this time I'm a little sad that innocent Pride is gone forever, but it had to be done, I'll be over it someday XD

Violetlight:

I suck at Chess too, really really bad, so I'm glad the symbolism worked at least ^^

Yep, I was really surprised at how their argument ended up getting so bad, but it did show just how bad Pride got from when he was younger, though I like to portray Pride as being worse than he actually is in series here to show that after a while he mellowed out. 

Oh, right, thanks for mentioning that, it's probably because I usually write my chapters at God knows what hour because I get carried away and start missing keys or writing the wrong word oo;; but I always go over them the day after to try and catch all of my dozens of mistakes ^_^;

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Forty-Four: Expressions of Hate and Love**

**August 20th 1834**

Over twenty four years had passed since the Wellesley conflict (and Greed running away, but that didn't matter in the slightest), with only eighty one years left before the Promised Day and another six crests of blood to form Pride had been anticipating his meeting with the _new _new Fuhrer for a while now. Whoever had succeeded Lewis probably was too old when he was selected or got ill and died or whatever, Pride didn't care to learn his name, likewise with this new-ish Fuhrer, but this meeting would be important so he didn't mind in the least having a serious conversation with him, laying out ground rules, enforcing efficiency and whatnot. _Alone _this time, he didn't need any of his siblings accompanying him for such a simple, if important, task.

"**Good morning, Mister Fuhrer." **This being a private meeting with no generals to viciously enforce proper etiquette onto Pride didn't hold his façade any longer than was necessary to allow him access to the Fuhrer's room.

"Good morning, Pride. Miss Lust informed me when I was inaugurated that you would be who would most likely visit me. It's a pleasure to meet you." Oh, that was fine, just because he and Lust hadn't spoke or made eye contact and had stayed out of each other's way for five years, that was perfectly normal…there was no animosity between them…there wasn't…it didn't matter, he didn't even need siblings…

"**You are well aware of what will happen if you are not wholeheartedly committed to my Father's cause, don't you?" **For good measure Pride scattered a few of his shadows over the floor as he strode forward, sitting down with a smile as he let them weave themselves up along the chair legs. He wasn't used to holding them all inside his container anymore.

"Of course, Pride, I was informed of the consequences many times by your siblings. My generals have also been enthusiastic in stressing the importance of our commitment to you and your Father."

"**That is for the best, for your sake. And what of the generals? You know you must reassign them elsewhere if they show any reluctance to the plan, don't you? I believe Lewis sent General Steiner north once he displayed such reluctance, correct?"** The Fuhrer nodded, but paused to digest the question; he probably had so many generals and other high ranking soldiers to deal with that it was too much for his feeble human mind to process efficiently.

"Ah, General Steiner, he's getting on in years now, close to retiring for certain. Fuhrer Armstrong reassigned him to North City; he took his family with him since he seemed all too willing to disassociate himself from our obligations, though he is of no threat to us." The Fuhrer smiled a little from across the table "His youngest son caused a spot of bother though a few years back, we managed to keep it all out of the public eye though. Apparently, four years ago he stirred up something verging on a scandal- he met a girl up around North City, though nearer the mountains, got her pregnant and paid her off by stealing from his father. Luckily she was a sensible girl and went straight to General Steiner to return the money, on the condition that we remove the child from her care once it was born and not speak of the incident again. General Steiner was so furious he sent the son to study with an alchemist rather than attend university, though the son seemed to prefer alchemy so maybe it was for the best. The older son is not as ambitious, he seems to still be in North City training for something or other, it's not really any of our concern if none of them are joining the military. We have been monitoring the child from its place of residence at the orphanage in Vectora- that's a small town south west of North City." This new Fuhrer seemed sensible enough to have a map all set out on the table in preparation for their discussion, and tapped at a little white speck on the map north west of Central, though closer to the east area of Amestris "If your Father wishes we make use of the child we will collect it immediately." Pride didn't really see a point in such things, but nurturing a child from a young age to be manipulated seemed interesting at least, it would spare that free-will nonsense getting in the way.

"**I will discuss the suggestion with my Father and return with his answer in due course." **He only nodded in understanding, far too happy to agree to whatever they desired, which was efficient if a little unnerving, he seemed too willing, and lacked the sadistic streak that Lewis had to justify it. **"Now, why did you wish for an audience with me on Father's behalf?" **It had been a peculiar thing, the humans actually asking them to arrange a meeting, so it must have been important and relevant to the plan, unless humans were even stupider than Pride thought they could be and had merely requested his presence to inform him of the scandalous gossips of one decrepit general's unruly offspring.

"Oh, yes, quite. Well, you see, a few days ago we received a gift from the Aerugan royal family; the message arrived in Amestrian and requested that we make peace with them." The final point of the first pentagon fell in Aerugan territory, they had delayed invading Aerugo once, and they couldn't afford to procrastinate with so many crests left to be formed.

"**What was the gift?" **The Fuhrer smiled and motioned towards a large sheet covering something on the wall, pushing himself out of his seat to stand alongside it, but did not make any indication of removing the covering, instead producing a decorated piece of card from his pocket.

"The message was _"though our union through marriage was torn apart by tragedy, we do not wish to lay the blame on anyone, and only hope your military state can continue to be our allies and trading partners not under the pretense of neutrality, but as peaceful associates. As a gift we have presented to you the final portrait of our esteemed Royal Highness Antoine the Just, and his Amestrian wife Sylvia-" _"

"**Sylvia?" **Horrible thoughts of the past flood his mind, not hesitating to make him remember everything from back then, some things were blurred and distorted but not _that _thing, and before he could stop himself he had protested against the alien name that was undoubtedly _hers _despite that- he just _knew_ it.

"I am merely reading the translation, but that seems to be correct."

"**But she's called Sylvie." **The little thing in his head shivered a tad, the feeling muted and vague as it had started to become more and more so every time it disturbed him by appearing, but this time it said nothing, floating along to brush against another something that Pride was well aware of but hadn't heard anything from in almost a hundred years.

"Sylvie is the Aerugan term used for the name; she only changed it once she was betrothed to the prince to make him feel more at ease with the arranged marriage. Rumors abound that it was also in memory of her cousin Mary, who oft called it her due to her inability to pronounce her real name in her young age, she became very distressed after the death of both Mary and her grandmother Alice in that _horrible accident_ in the summer of 1681. With her being the last Amestrian monarch I would have assumed you had been acquainted with her, did you never meet her? Well, you may have not had the opportunity, they don't call her the _Absent Queen _for nothing, she spent most—_ all_ of her reign in Aerugo, until her death in the winter of 1730 during her visit to Amestris. Time hasn't been kind to her reputation here; I do not think this portrait will provide the morale Aerugo believes it will. The public has grown to despise the monarchy in recent years, especially with the Luptons' play becoming popular again." The other something in his head that was female shook and whispered wistfully to itself, filled with despair, drifting into another language that Pride still could understand somehow despite having never heard it before, becoming erratic and trying to break into sobs even with its inability to do so, as the _actual_ _something_ had been quick to tell him those years ago. In spite of the chaos going on in his head Pride managed to keep his container's face calm, his true expression bleeding out into his shadows as several agitated, tooth-filled frowns. _Be quiet. _

"**I see." **The Fuhrer only smiled, pulling the sheet down to reveal the portrait. In his blurred memories Pride had managed to keep that cumbersome past of his, smothering them beneath the fact that the less he thought about them the sooner they would fade away, but faced directly by that he wished forget, seeing that perfect, preserved painting of _her _and that wretched _family _of _hers_ that she had formed over her absence made him remember it all too clearly, the family that Lust and he had torn apart, all that she'd deserved, she needed to suffer back then, needed to suffer now and forever, death was too good for her.

Still, he had to admit the painting was very good, her hair was much neater than when they had been acquainted the final time, looked more of a pale blonde streaked with grey than the dirty blonde it had become, how arrogant a human she was, telling the painter to change certain things to make herself look better. She was sitting down, in that horrible extravagant violet dress with the golden bows, hands folded in her lap, smiling, not looking forward but wistfully down, the endless depths in those unchanging eyes of hers was not lost in the portrait despite that, same as always.

Standing at her side was that _Antoine_, the husband she'd been waiting for since the moment they'd met, who she must have valued more than anything if she wanted to spend every moment with him for over thirty-seven years. Pride never got a good enough look of him when he was alive to know if there had been any major changes, he didn't care either way. And in the middle of them—_oh, _he knew all to well who that was, another distraction to keep her in Aerugo, the coveted male offspring that her father desired to shape into a suitable heir to rule the country one day. How unfortunate he had been by crossing paths with Lust, it was all fate and coincidence that they should meet when he required new clothes, it was for the best, for what reason had a child to live without their parent? He would have not survived to be of any use to them anyway had they spared him and wished to manipulate him using someone stupid enough to act as regent. He was smiling too, that awful whelp who she'd allowed to take his name, stolen and soiled by being given to such a waste of a human without hesitation, as if she could replace him with such a simple action, she didn't think enough of him to have such a deep meaning behind it, she was probably just too lazy to think of one, how young he had been in comparison to her it was amazing how lazy she must have been, not having a child until she was almost dead herself.

He wasn't wearing the clothes Pride had wore as him, he was wearing his red coat with the white cravat, the ones he'd found in his clothes chest that day. No doubt he wanted to be like his father by wearing such similar clothes, trying to erase any resemblance between him and _her_, except those eyes, even as a painting they were the same as hers had been.

"Do you want us to accept this proposal, Pride?" The Fuhrer's voice ripped him from his daze, and he blinked, focusing, wiping the scowl that had formed on his face out into his shadow again. Regardless of how abhorrent and insulting the portrait was to Amestris, it didn't influence anything, the north point of Aerugo was a required place for a crest of blood to be formed, was only logical.

"**Ignore this request for peace, you are obligated to us to instigate bloodshed, and instigate bloodshed you shall. You will invade Aerugo as soon as possible using whatever methods required to provide suitable motives for such, do you understand?" **The Fuhrer nodded, sitting back down at his desk.

"Of course, Pride. We shall take measures to lead to conflict immediately." He tapped at the point south of Amestris' boundaries "You want us to attack here, correct?" a shadow was there to measure the distance between each already formed crest, each one equal distance apart, lining up where the final point of the first pentagon would be . Sure enough it fell in Aerugo, near where the Fuhrer had approximated. With a crack of a smile Pride flicked the shadow up, bringing it down and stabbing a neat, thin exact hole in the map, only smiling further at the Fuhrer's surprised yelp as he grazed his finger- it was fine, it would only be a scratch. "W-What do you want us to do with the portrait?" Humans really were useless, needing every little thing be explicitly pointed out to them, it was probably better that they didn't think for themselves, nothing could go wrong if they listened to them perfectly in everything. Still, at the redundancy of the question Pride couldn't resist a sigh, stealing a bored look out the window.

"**Surely Central has an art gallery of some sort, house it there, no doubt it can become a symbol of the how foolish even the **_**idea **_**of Aerugo and Amestris having a union was in the future." **It was only sensible, Amestris wasn't meant to have alliances with other countries, soon enough the country would have outlived its purpose when the Promised Day arrived, even pretending to be neutral with other countries would be pointless outside of trading to keep the population happy.

"I'll see to it that the painting is sent to Central's art gallery as soon as possible, Pride." hopefully the Fuhrer would have the sense to prioritise properly and address the main concern of arranging his strategy meeting with the generals first. They hadn't enough time left to waste on petty aesthetics. Humans were always too short sighted to focus in anything other than the present. They didn't live long enough for any of their own plans to have any meaning.

It was for the best that they obey them without question until they all met their end when Father used them all to become a God.

0 * 0 * 0

**July 10th 1863**

Pride had always known he was the most intelligent of Father's children, even when he was young he knew that Father had created him without knowledge for a reason, so that he could learn in a much more detailed way through his experiences. Father's love for him ran so deep that he had wanted him to strive to learn anything and everything in the world, though remaining loyally at his side at all times. Of course, that was limited to certain information, only Father could know all the information the world had to offer, and he would once he became a God, and Pride took the greatest pleasure in knowing that he would be even a fraction near to Father one day, far succeeding the intelligence of his siblings surely. It was a given when he thought of how he was raised, learning how to read and write in little over a year, even if the others already knew that from birth.

In order to be the most dutiful child he could Pride had immersed himself in the most sophisticated and intricate reading material human literature had to offer, purchasing his own books now since he didn't need anyone to do such a thing for him. His most recent purchase had been in April, the second volume of three of that human geologist's reports on _the Antiquity of Man,_ as it was known. The first volume hadn't caught his eye in any way, it was rather crass and boring, only providing evidence that humans had existed for far longer on this planet that they ever thought (which did nothing to help Pride's nonexistent amount of faith for the human race, if they hadn't matured enough to function properly in however many millions of years then surely they never would). The second volume was even worse, discussing how the different continents had split and mentioning glacial formations, nothing of substance, though it had provided insight into the next volume, whenever it was being released- which seemed more informative to say the least, discussing how humans and animals as Pride had observed them came to be (though much of his information on animals including appearance was from Father's books, he could never approach any for long enough to catch any particular details, illustrations were better, they couldn't run away or bite). Apparently it was riding on the back of the book he had purchased a few years ago based around a similar subject, where a rather curious human had travelled across the ocean and to many other countries and observed differences in different species of creatures around the world, and had wished to discover how such things occurred naturally. The human had theorised that animals randomly developed features by accident, and that if such features helped them in someway to survive then the feature was passed on to its offspring, and that eventually this advantage would result in all those without the trait dying and the 'new' animal would become the norm over hundreds of generations. Pride was skeptical that such things could be true, but if it would prove useful to Father in any way, he would strive to learn every aspect of the theory, Pride was already anticipating the day when Father would resume his research into creating chimeras and he would be there to assist him wholeheartedly.

It was that longing for knowledge that compelled Pride to leave Father's room for the first time in several months so as to visit his library and read something to make himself useful while Father desired nothing of him. The library was never a library to begin with, Pride recognized it as the large room he had lived in when Father had taught him how to fully manipulate his shadows, so many years ago now Pride could hardly recall the arduous effort he once put into moving them, none of that weakness existed in him now. Instead of the empty room that had once been covered in vicious claw marks from his shadows being disobedient there were simply stacks of books arranged in neat piles much higher than his container stood, categorized by age and subject, not wanting to make a mess Pride often settled for the most recently purchased books these days. Pride had a vague idea of the book he wanted to read and was in the middle of searching for it when something crashed behind him, a pile of books collapsing, and he saw the familiar pudgy shape of his youngest sibling turn curiously around, as if he hadn't noticed he'd knocked the pile over at all.

"**What are you doing here, Gluttony?" **Instantly a wall of black shot up to support the remaining books, using the rest of his hands to carefully stack them back as neatly as possible while glaring. Gluttony turned around, holding something in his disproportionate arms, face as blank as ever.

"Oh, Pride. Getting book for Lust. Lust's out, told me which one she wanted." Blinking his simple white eyes Gluttony held out the book for him. It was a recent book, relatively speaking, adorned with the image of a human with long hair lying down near a skeleton, and another human near a door, seemingly scared out of his wits. Pride squinted to see the title-

_Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus_

Pride remembered the name Prometheus from one of Father's books on Xerxian mythology, but doubted it applied here given the image on the cover. He only scowled and pushed the book away, there wasn't a doubt in Pride's mind that Gluttony had only recognised it because of the illustration. Gluttony was far too stupid to be literate. He didn't bother with the courtesy of a smile as he stepped out into another book-free space to let Gluttony and his clumsiness leave him in peace. But Gluttony didn't even move from his spot next to the slowly-being-rebuilt stack of books, a sad little frown replacing his usual vacant expression.

"Lust's been gone long time. Said she'd be back soon." being the pathetic excuse of a homunculus Gluttony was it didn't surprise Pride at all when his eyes welled up "You'll help me find her, won't you, Pride?" With a grimace at the hand that was suddenly clamped around his wrist as Gluttony practically begged him Pride's shadow made a little cut into Gluttony's arm to swat him away with a glare

"**I'm far too busy to humour your exaggerated delusions, Gluttony. Lust will return from her outing whenever but until then you must remain patient, and keep out of everyone else's way." **Pride wasn't used to using her name anymore. He hoped Gluttony would see sense and leave without causing further disruptions, but still he didn't move, one finger stuck in his mouth as he pondered over his senseless assumptions

"Is she on holiday, Pride?"

"**Holiday?"**

"Like Greed is, maybe she's on holiday with Greed." Pride didn't think Gluttony's intelligence could _be _any lower than it already was, and yet it seemed that it hadn't occurred to him that Greed wasn't going to come back (willingly anyway), nor had he understand the disgraceful circumstances he had deserted them under, he still spoke of Greed with _respect,_ like Greed deserved even a speck of it from _anyone. _ It was shameful beyond words. Even thinking about Greed made Pride clench his teeth, he hadn't thought about it in a while, but the memories of that day were as fresh as ever, and would never fade until Greed was found and destroyed like he deserved to be.

"**She is **_**not **_**with Greed, so much should be certain to even someone as simple minded as you, Gluttony."** Despite the annoyance and irritability that was almost spontaneous from being near Gluttony for too long Pride knew there was something else behind it this time, another emotion he probably shouldn't have been capable of feeling, but it wasn't anything he hadn't experienced before, and if it would help maintain the correct hierarchy it was more than beneficial. Though Pride did nothing to nurture the searing rage that had formed inside him it grew nonetheless. It was all completely justified, Gluttony needed to be punished for his insolence and his ignorance towards everything, if he was going to continue existing he needed to understand how worthless he was, he _needed _to, and Pride considered himself the only one of Father's children capable of suitably doing so.

"B-but Pride, why isn't Lust here then? You have to help me find Lu-" Despite smirking immeasurably on the inside Pride remained his usual emotionless self on the surface as he impaled Gluttony through the nodes on his shoulders and hands so he couldn't move and make even more of a mess. Even though he was choking on his own blood Gluttony still managed to cry, at which Pride's façade of calmness shattered and he glowered, only digging the shadows in further.

"**It's because you're like that, naïve and weak!" **It was far more disgraceful if any of Gluttony's blood were to mar any of Father's books, Pride regrettably opening his shadow's mouth beneath him to collect it, a thinner shadow stretching outside Father's room to an alleyway in Central to let it spill out without a drop of it being swallowed, the very thought of it was too disgusting to consider** "That's why Father won't let you go with her anywhere. You aren't of any use to him so he'd rather ignore you." **The tiniest part of him may have realized his hate for Gluttony stemmed from somewhere so shamefully close, but if it did the very idea was destroyed so violently without hesitation before it even came close to reaching any conscious part of his mind. **"You may be the youngest but that does **_**not **_**mean you can be so pathetic and useless! You shouldn't even exist if the only thing you ever do is waste Father's time." **The emotion that had consumed him sputtered and drained away, and he started to grow bored with torturing Gluttony, unable to even muster a smirk at his suffering. **"You should just go and get yourself killed, you'd be better off dead!"** With something of a sigh Pride retracted his shadows, their teeth clenched in their frustration but his container looked perfectly calm. Not caring to see what Gluttony did Pride went back to browsing for his book, hearing him crawl pathetically away once he'd regenerated with sniffling noises, like the miserable waste was still crying.

Gluttony would either have to learn or would die out of sheer incompetence before long. Pride knew neither of those things were his concern though, if Gluttony just stayed out of his way things would be perfectly fine.

Finding a book to read was a far more beneficial use of his time at the moment anyway.

0 * 0 * 0

The war in Aerugo had gone splendidly, though it seemed to have some effect on something that unfortunately Pride didn't understand as much as he would let anyone know called the economy- which didn't sound like a positive side effect of the war. A few years ago during the winter while reading, only the most high-class and prestigious of monthly journals Central City had to offer Pride had discovered a treatise on the effect it had on the population in four parts (it seemed it was so heavily criticised that it needed to be halted after only those four), something about how the lower classes were being overworked due to the sudden growth of the country because of the pressure the war had on it. He was currently reading its published version of the same essays that he'd discovered last year near to his birthday, it seems humans were tenacious and the criticism had not fazed the author in the slightest- it was almost like it was only published out of spite.

Curled up on the floor, Pride was rather content despite the _incident _earlier, his shadows pooled around him in a random array of black and a few half open eyes, open on merely his whim, not open enough for him to properly see out of them so it wouldn't disturb his reading. Still, a genial ripple ran along them, his dozens of little hands flicking on their nonexistent wrists as the current bled out into the ground. Having started rereading only seven chapters from the end due to him discovering a misplaced bookmark there Pride was almost finished, and was quite pleased with himself, more than confident that he had successfully absorbed all relevant information from the book. Pride had seen Lust return with Envy from her trip upstairs about half an hour ago, discussing something he couldn't catch with Gluttony at her side with Father, and from that had assumed it was at least past noon now, not that he cared about such things. Still, if it was after noon and Father desired nothing of him there would be nothing amiss by resting for an hour or two, the dust from Gluttony knocking over Father's books may have irritated his eyes, it was sensible to rest them before they became infected and he needed to pester Father to repair them. Dragging the shadows back into his container Pride curled tighter, pushing the book away. But he warily opened his eyes and sat up slightly as he heard footsteps, and a shadow fell over him. He smiled, pushing himself up.

"**Good afternoon, Father." **Father hadn't spoken to him in a while, he had been very busy with something, and had remained in his chair without moving for months at a time, he seemed perfectly fine, but a small part of Pride knew that there was something different, for better or worse he wasn't sure, but it was too preposterous to consider that anything that Father did could be incorrect.

"Good afternoon to you too, Pride. How have you been using your time while I have been working?"

"**I have been rereading through recently published human literature in order to gauge the current state of the population's morale and opinion on the government, so as to ensure that nothing goes awry in the plan." **A soft, genuine smile formed on his face as Father nodded, getting a nod of agreement from Father after so long was glorious in itself.

"Stand, Pride. Approach your Father." Within a moment of it leaving Father's mouth Pride was already on his feet, brushing down his coattails free of dust and adjusting his scarf, had to look perfect for Father, nothing else was acceptable. "I have been considering extending the distance you are allowed to travel. How old are you now?" Pride's smile widened at the thought that Father loved him enough to extend his barrier a second time, do his utmost to protect him from certain death, he valued him that much, it was something he would never do for any of his siblings he was sure.

"**Two hundred and seventy three, Father."**

"Two hundred and seventy three…" Whatever apprehension that suddenly formed in Pride at hearing Father repeat his words in such a peculiar manner was washed away as Father's palm cast a darker shadow over him, pressing against his forehead, to which Pride couldn't resist another contented grin. The warmth of Father's alchemy crackled softly, pooling his head like the last time his barrier had been extended, Pride blushed a little at the warmth inside his head, waiting patiently for it to bleed down into the rest of his container. The crackling continued for a few seconds before it seemed to fizzle out, Pride only lifting his head high enough to catch Father's crack of a smile before something started to sting and—

He hadn't time to even ask what was wrong before he was on his knees, his eyes roaming frantically around for any sign of what had happened, the pain in his head tearing through every logical thought before he could act on anything, pale little skin coloured jigsaw like fragments swimming through his vision, dissolving with trails of black behind them as they fell, some pieces larger and white instead, falling apart as a fine grey powder.

_What is this?_

Something was burning his internal shadows away, a light unbearably bright forcing them to press against the sides of his head from the inside, but even then they flaked into nonexistence.

The only shadow that remained in his head lashed out at the air, at whatever had caused the others to fade away, Pride shifted his focus, raising his head to see where Father had gone, ask what had happened, still feeling the shadow writhing too freely. But as he opened his mouth to speak it recoiled, and he only became aware of it as it emerged through the centre of his eye, thrashing around until it broke through into the other, tearing it apart with the same spasmodic twisting in its panic. There was a dreadful shrieking in the air, and it took Pride a few moments to realize it was himself. He lurched forward, only able to hold one arm out to stop himself collapsing, feeling the globs of what were once his eyes beginning to dribble out between his fingers in the other, hearing the splotches of probably white and purple seeping into his scarf, some following his wrist and down his arm, or into his mouth which he could only sputter and choke, convenient punctuation to his screaming.

"At two hundred and seventy three years old I would have expected you to know how to behave, Pride." Father's voice made him freeze, his fingers hooked on his eye sockets as they clenched themselves just so he didn't scream again. Why was Father doing this? Father would never hurt him like this…Father loved him… "You attacked Gluttony out of no reason other than spite; such emotions should not exist inside you. How dare you criticise my creation with such impudence." To protect some of his shadows from the light he wasn't sure was there or not anymore Pride let a few of them spill onto the floor, forming eyes to replace his container's in one thin tendril, lifting it uneasily up to inspect the damage. The top of his head was _gone, _everything above his ears cracked, and then nothing else, just an empty expanse of constantly dissolving and regenerating shadows.

"All I ever asked of you is that you respect me,"

The lone remaining pointed shadow that stemmed from those in his neck was still stabbing at random points in the air; there was another shadow there too, in the centre of his head, twisted and wrapped tightly around something, regenerating constantly with almost unseen red sparks as the magnesium his shadows were drenched in continued to burn, preventing the rest of him from regenerating. The erratic shadow flicked back at the pain again, cutting across it jaggedly, and Pride closed the shadow's eyes with a wince, though it barely registered as anything anymore.

"be loyal to me,"

Crimson oozed out from the slash, the something inside crying out in a shrill wail, but its cry was muffled by the shadow covering it. It fell silent as the hole in the shadow grew, a miniscule something that looked like a stomach falling out, and other tiny versions of soft human organs spilling out into the shadow after it, dissolving too.

_**What is this?**_

"and never disobey me." Reluctantly Pride stabbed the unruly shadow with a more obedient one so it wouldn't cause him any more damage, even the obedient shadow threatening to be burned into nothing in the magnesium filled haze inside his head. "as my eldest child you have no excuse for behaving so disrespectfully to your siblings, to _me._" It didn't even matter how Father had discovered what he'd done to Gluttony, holding the shadow serving as his eyes in front of where his container's eyes should have been Pride looked up, but seeing every inch of Father angry at himhe felt a stab deep inside him, and he hung his head, he didn't deserve to look at him anymore. His hands clenched tighter, and he knew that if he still had eyes they would have disgracefully welled up at the thought. If Father was so furious then…oh how Pride shuddered as he realised what that meant.

_He's going to kill me_

A part of Pride, the part that would be forever loyal no matter what happened, told him to stop disgracefully crawling away and accept judgment like he deserved without complaint, and even smile and accept it readily because even if he was to die it was what Father willed and Father could never be wrong…

The cowardly, meek part of him that was slightly more sensible was shrieking in his head to flee, to go anywhere that wasn't here so as not to invoke Father's wrath even more by remaining where he was not wanted. If he was alive he could repent one day…somehow…

His indecision could only voice itself as a quiet whine in his throat, mustn't scream again, if he kept making shameful noise Father would make him be quiet…and then…

The pathetic and weak part of him won his internal argument on the grounds that neither side could fathom the idea of dying permanently; the constant loop he imagined of it - being killed enough times until his Stone ran out of souls to sustain him, and even before that it would destroy his container until he could only wait to die - ravaged his mind until he couldn't think of anything other than dragging himself away from the certain death that awaited him if he stayed, however shameful it was.

"Leave my sight, Pride, you insolent wretch." Pride knew he should have thanked Father for allowing him to live, but the flash of _for now _inside him made him forget the formality and focus on following his order without another second of delay. As he started crawling away the light began to fade, but even then he could only sluggishly regenerate, and the shadows retreated deeper into his container to conserve his energy, leaving him blindly feeling his way along the floor, only knowing he was out of Father's room when he smashed into a wall and then another the other side a few seconds later. His head sealed itself again piece by wretched piece, his fringe and the rest of hair re-growing immediately after, remaining bits and pieces of his eyes catching in the longer strands. Pride paused to wait out a dizzy spell as the shadows rushed up through his container to fill the cavity in his head, feeling them knitting themselves along the underside of his new skin. He knew there weren't enough shadows to completely cover his container like before though. Slowly, painfully slowly his eyes rebuilt themselves, more of the shadows diminishing as the souls in his Stone drained away, he couldn't tell how many were left, but it wasn't enough to sustain him for very long.

Still Pride forced himself to continue wandering without sight through the corridor, desperately putting one knee in front of the other, anything to distance himself from Father as much as possible like he had ordered him, so much that Pride didn't feel the opening of the transmutation tunnel, only falling the dozen or so feet and hearing the loud _crack _soundingin his arms and one of his legs as he landed in a heap on the floor, he hadn't the energy to move another inch, only tilting his head up at the small stream of light above him. When his sight returned Pride knew he was imagining it, but he thought he saw Father at the opening, pushing the stone over it, sealing it shut because he knew he was there. Exhaustion was tugging in his mind, threatening to drag him down into a probably unbearably deep unconsciousness, and for once Pride didn't try to resist it, having put so much strain on his container already it would be foolish to waste any more souls on being irrational.

In the endless darkness of the tunnel, completely isolated from Father and the rest of the world, Pride let his still healing eyes close, shifting his broken bones until he curled up, not feeling them dissolve inside him, not even aware of their existence, and let himself slip away into a dream-free nothingness that Pride couldn't distinguish between merely an engulfing sleep or a mercifully quick death.

It didn't really matter which one it was anymore.

0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0

Sorry for leaving you all on this cliffhanger, especially because it's the interlude next chapter and I'm back to every two weeks, sorry bout that ;_;

Oh, right, I got the name Vectora from what I saw written on the map of Amestris in chapter 35 ^^;


	45. Interlude for the Furious

A/N Haa, I lied! Well it wasn't lying per say, rather I realized how close my exams are (of a fashion) and my schedule kinda imploded, so I have no idea when I'll be updating again after this, maybe once before my exams start properly, but I'm giving no guarantees, sorry everyone ;_;

Yay, third interlude is here, which means this fic is now 75% done, scary thought, that it's already three quarters over T_T but here's to a great last 15%~ ^_^ Now, I'm ret-conning a little here, since back in chapter 15 I said that an hour and a half had passed since Pride first went to sleep, which I now know was way too long, so eventually I'll go back and sort all that out, so in this chapter he's been asleep for 90 minutes, and when Mrs. Bradley went to see him it was probably only 35 minutes or something like that ^^;

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-Fan-

Yay, I'm glad I made you feel bad for Pride despite how much of a prick he's been being. Aw, Moofy don'cha know my theme yet, it's always the eyes, it was the eyes before interlude one, it was the eyes after interlude two, it's the eyes last chapter, just anticipate the eyes before interlude four ok ;) Oh, it's funny you say that, because I wrote the scene from _Solutions to a Hollow Victory_ with the scene from last chapter in mind, only with 'if Father actually set out to kill Pride' instead ^_^ yep, I really wanted to show Father's slight bias towards Gluttony with the whole disproportionate retribution thing, poor Pride ;_;

Violetlight-

The thing with the first sentence wasn't a mistake, but looking over it I fixed a little phrasing issue and it should be ok now ^^ the second thing was something did with its formatting, but it's fixed now too ^_^

Yeah, I knew I had to mention the chimeras before they're introduced for real once sewers get properly invented, and given that On the origin of Species was published near the year I was at I thought it would be nice to mention them there ^^ yeah, I love making references to books and authors, well, most of all the books I've mentioned were real and published close to the time they are mentioned in the fic ^^

I've only read Frankenstein once on account of I don't own the book, and that was in my year 9 English class for my coursework, but I want to read it again sometime ^^ oh, I must have not made it clear enough, Pride doesn't understand the importance of the book because he has never read it, given Lust and Pride's falling out before it was published Pride distances himself from fiction books, considering them childish and associating Lust with them, given how many she used to own. Pride now only reads non-fiction books to make himself look more 'mature', which is why he has such a low opinion on Frankenstein, even more so because Lust must have bought it.

I'm glad I got Pride's frustration with Gluttony across, while I did want to show that he is secretly jealous of Gluttony's closeness to Lust, I also wanted to show that perhaps Pride's hate for Gluttony stems from the fact that Gluttony reminds Pride of how he used to be, which would tie in to those who are arrogant harbouring a large amount of self loathing, which is why Pride wishes that Gluttony would die, to destroy the innocent and 'weak' part of himself. Also, going with my idea of Pride being a failed version of the Truth, he dislikes Gluttony because Gluttony represents the Gate that Father covets, while Pride is the Truth that stands in Father's way, though destroying Gluttony is what ultimately leads to Pride's undoing, Gluttony's hunger pangs being what forces him to eat Kimblee, in the same way that if the person's Gate is given up as a toll the person's Truth also ceases to exist.

Ah, yes, another thing I forgot to mention properly ^^; ok, well, while Pride's container's eyes were not Miles's eyes to begin with due to Father destroying them and making nice new purple ones, Pride was always incapable of getting eye infections. But, as I mention in my one-shot about Miles's life the day before he died on my DeviantART (can be found here http:/ fav .me / d4gkxjt) because of his half Xingese heritage he was teased because of his Xingese eyes, and he used to open them wide and not blink so as to try and fit in with the other urchins, leading him to get lots of eye infections (and he died with conjunctivitis, as Pride mentions his eyes having something wrong with them in chapter 11). Pride having some recollection of Miles's experiences, with one manifesting itself as Pride's horse phobia, his slight concern about getting an eye infection is just a vestige of those experiences influencing Pride a tad. 

Well, I did want to accentuate Father only having Wrath left inside him, as well as him having a bias towards Gluttony a little ^^;

Aw, that's a shame that it wasn't your day, but I'm glad I managed to cheer you up with the chapter, gore not withstanding ^^

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Forty-Five: Interlude for the Furious**

_I can't hear Those Two fighting…they're always fighting…_

_Pride used one of Them…earlier today, with the eyes…_

_Oh, how wasteful he is…but it must be wonderful, tha_t _he was able to escape this place…_

_I wonder if Pride would forget how to…if it was the other one…?_

_Who knows…? I pray we never find out, it would be unfortunate for Pride to forget something like that…if it serves a purpose one day…_

_Someone's coming…_

Feeling the presence of someone outside, the contented, if wistful souls faded away together into the void, lest Pride wake from his dreams of the past, no matter how horrible the memory that was currently flooding his mind.

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Wrath would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the brief times he allowed himself to depart from his duties as Fuhrer, spend time with the one slight divergence on the rail his life had been placed on, the only thing he'd ever had a choice in. Even then it had been disrupted over the last two years, Pride coming to live with him and Lenore in order to secure the image of the Fuhrer being compassionate, a Fuhrer with a family could never be seen as anything but. Being infertile he could never give Lenore the child she longed for, and Pride had been far too willing to fill the void, no doubt on Father's orders, like they didn't trust him enough, didn't want him to have a quaint existence with his wife outside of his obligations.

Even with Pride there watching him, as he would be now having returned from his planned meeting with Father, Wrath didn't mind it as much, he could ignore Pride's glares and love of showing him up during their little game of house, just to ensure Lenore only had time for him. He didn't have much time, having sent Hawkeye away on a break he'd only managed to steal a half hour or so.

She'd probably be in the tearoom, with dear _Selim_ she hardly ever went anywhere else, no doubt he'd made her worry terribly during his meeting with Father by running off, hopefully it was all forgotten about now so she wouldn't need to make such an awful fuss over him. As Wrath walked briskly along the corridor to the stairs that lead to the second floor, why the previous Fuhrer had designated the tea room to be on the highest floor was probably some sort of human quirk, the same sort of eccentricity that Wrath tried to show as his role as Fuhrer, nevertheless the sense of it eluded him even after living in the house for so long. As he reached the stairs Lenore was already making her way down them, spotting him and smiling, Pride nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, hello Dear. What a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to visit you, can't have my work interfering with seeing my family." It was half true at least, he wished he could always evade his duties to spend time with her, Pride was another matter, still, he would act as fatherly as possible (it wasn't like he'd had anyone to teach him _how _to behave as a parent) if it meant he could avoid a tongue-lashing on not 'playing' properly.

Sitting down in the tea room now, Pride was still absent, the blue-grey chair to Lenore's left empty, Lenore herself nursing at a cup of tea gently

"The tea leaves arrived earlier. I told Sheridan to take them to the cellar." Not deep enough, never enough to see the truth "I asked him to order some more as well, you know how I'll worry while you're at the training in the East in March, especially because Selim will want to go with you, and how could I possibly not let him go?" The thought alone of Pride being able to even travel outside of Central never mind to East City was absurd in itself, he wouldn't be going anyway, so close to the Promised Day…he'd be busy collecting the human sacrifices if anything, emotionless and cold as he ever was, he wouldn't let Lenore even exist in his mind when that day came.

"And where is Selim, Lenore?" There was nothing wrong with wanting to know where his adopted son was, he was only curious, that was all.

"Oh, well, he went missing earlier, he came back safe and sound thank goodness, but he was so frightened I fear he made himself a little ill. He went to bed about an hour and a half ago to rest because he kept nodding off in here, and when I checked on him nearly an hour ago he had a terrible fever, so I left him to rest- the poor dear needs his sleep so he doesn't get any worse." She was already thinking the worse of everything Wrath was sure, she was so terrified of something happening to Pride, even if he didn't deserve the gesture, he knew more than anyone how much she loved those close to her, the love that kept the tiniest part of Wrath still human in some regards, and he was able to tolerate that if it allowed him to love her and appreciate having her as his wife. But with Pride, who had never been human in the first place, he regarded her love as a poison, that she was using to infect him, trying to corrupt him through the maternal love he'd been starved of all his life. In attempts to preserve his inhumanity Pride had been stubborn at first, rejecting her in his role as Selim, but nowadays he wished to exploit her love for him to worry her, to punish her for caring, because only Father was allowed to love him. Wrath's first thought was that this was another one of Pride's attempts to make her make a fuss of him; pretend he was ill so he could get away with doing nothing useful for the day, not to mention she would probably end up taking food down to him so he wouldn't even need to move.

"You will call the doctor if he gets worse, won't you Dear?" Pride would be oh so pleased if he was scheduled a meeting with Father's alchemist doctor on an occasion that was not his bi-annual medical examination, the idea alone amused Wrath quite a bit, but with him seeing to Kimblee in the North it was an impossibility, and Pride had probably already anticipated such a reaction and would not be acting ill enough to warrant a visit from the good doctor as a precaution, and thinking it over Wrath didn't blame him one bit. "I was going to check on him when I saw you, since I wanted to put something on his nightstand for when he woke up to cheer him up but I don't want it being out too long, I'd better check on him now anyway-"

"Don't you worry about it, I will check on Selim for you." Wrath would get to the bottom of this right now, no doubt that Pride would just be lying in his bed, the only bed he'd ever have, pretending to be asleep, laughing to himself at how 'pathetic' she was being by worrying about him so much. Insisting that he would check on him, Wrath stood up and headed for the door, but catching Lenore's almost confused expression he tried to act surprised that he was about to take his sword with him

"Sorry Dear, force of habit." He left the sword and its sheath at the side of the couch with an attempted something of a smile. Of course, the smile dropped immediately as he had left the room, closing the door and heading downstairs.

He was going to find out exactly what Pride was playing at, sword or no sword.

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Just as Lenore had said, Pride was in bed when Wrath silently pushed the door open, letting it click shut behind him. Pride wouldn't sleep during the afternoon just because he was tired; he must have been sending his shadows elsewhere to investigate something or other, but Wrath's eye couldn't detect any of Pride's shadows in the room, which only left that he was pretending to be ill to steal away her attention like he had before. Noticing the pair of socks and upturned shoes on the floor Wrath's eyebrow quirked, that was odd, Pride never left his clothes on the floor.

"You've become sloppy, son, are you feeling in such poor health that you can't take care of your clothes? When I was young tidiness was everything, I would have thought you would understand the importance of that as well." It was better to keep up the act until he was sure she wouldn't follow him up to check on him "You are my son, after all." A minute or so passed in silence, and Wrath walked closer in even steps to pick up the socks and place them on the foot of the bed, straightening the shoes as well. There, that had been enough, Pride hardly ever continued his act when they were alone anyway, unless to show how adept he was at keeping his façade up at all times while his was barely contained at the best of times.

"Pride." No answer, Pride didn't even move, still, Wrath chanced it "Did Father say anything when you visited him?" If Father had gave Pride any important information during his visit today then surely Pride would stop whatever senseless act he was putting on to relay it to him, at least for now.

Pride didn't give any indication of having heard him, only shifting his white dressing gown to try and cover more of him, Lenore had said he'd have a fever, but it looked like he trying to keep himself warmer in his short excuse of a dressing gown. It wouldn't surprise Wrath at all if Pride could manipulate his container's temperature, anything to make her fuss over him, no matter how much he worried her, stressing out her human heart so much, it was like he was trying to kill her before Father did, though Pride had confided in him that he might have cared something for her, he wouldn't hesitate in wishing to tear the quaint, calm lifestyle he had built up with Lenore apart safe in the knowledge that she's never suspect him, never stop loving him. Pride would probably do it just to keep him in place if need be.

If Pride was so adamant to keep up his act to try and irk him then Wrath could play along too, for a little while at least, he would _not _allow his older 'brother' interfering with what he had wished to be a peaceful quarter of an hour or so away from his obligations as Fuhrer.

"Your mother said you had a fever, but now you're here shivering, do you have the flu then, son?" Wrath knew homunculi could not get ill in that regard, though Pride's inadequacy at understanding humans had never hindered him in his imitation before. He might not understand it but he most likely would have read of its symptoms in one of Father's books on medicine and would emulate them in the most clinical method possible that would somehow convince everyone he met. Lenore wouldn't be pleased if he seemed neglectful of their _darling child, _so Wrath strode closer, pulling the quilt up slightly, just to cover up his legs, if Pride really wanted it while pretending to be asleep and ill he could get it himself.

"Isn't it about time you stopped acting now, Pride? You've told me many a time we cannot contract human illnesses." This close now Wrath could see that Pride's eyes were softly closed, though that still didn't rule out that he was pretending, any minute now that poisonous smirk would appear on his face and the shadows would ensnare him, and Pride would laugh and remind him of how important it was that their little game of house be perfect, despite it being Pride's fault for being determined to irritate him. Even now he was pretending, breathing (like he even needed to breathe anyway) evenly through his mouth, though Wrath knew that was something he couldn't act about, apparently he didn't know breathing through one's nose was possible, Wrath wouldn't _dare _think it a fault with his container, no, certainly not, Father wouldn't do something like that. Still nothing. Fine, he'd carry on regardless.

The white damp cloth Lenore had put on his forehead has slipped off and was currently making a wet patch on his pillow. Wrath lifted it away, dropping it in the bowl on his nightstand.

"Your mother wants me to check your temperature." With a sigh Wrath pressed his hand against Pride's forehead; it didn't matter if it was supposed to be the back of the hand, Lenore had probably already checked that. Then Pride did something Wrath never would have anticipated, Pride pushed a little closer into it; nuzzling even, something that sounded like a happy sigh escaping him as he breathed out. A moment passed with Pride holding the most genuine smile Wrath had ever seen him form, looking so eerily similar to the smile he would form when around Lenore, when she praised him or embraced him with her gentle, ever so human love and affection, but even that was fake with him. What could Pride possibly be dreaming about for him to be behaving in such an…unusual, childish manner?

"…**Father…" **That was all it took for Wrath to realise that Pride wasn't acting, that Pride really was asleep and dreaming, Pride would have never let himself slip into his true voice while she was so only one floor above them. Wrath wasn't sure what to do, having his arrogant older brother behaving in such a way was almost too peculiar for him to comprehend, he'd never assumed Pride to be one to dream about Father at any rate, even with that endless longing he held for him. Another moment or two wore on with Pride grinning sleepily through his dream, perhaps he was dreaming about after the Promised Day, no doubt Pride would desire that all of his siblings would perish as Lust had so he could have Father to dote on him alone for the rest of eternity, Pride was selfish enough to dream of such things. It was disgusting, when Lenore would need to die for such a thing to be a reality, that he could push her from his mind so easily. The sin for which he was named filled Wrath at the thought, and his hand tightened its grip on Pride's head. Within an instant Pride's smile drooped, seeming almost confused for a brief second. But something changed, and he groaned, his peaceful expression contorting horribly, and he seemed to be…trembling? **"Ugh…ngh…F-father…please…don't…" **he shivered, futilely trying to shuffle away from his hand, yelping as he roughly pulled himself away, curling tighter, whimpering forlornly to himself.

Wrath was taken aback the say the least, how could whatever self-indulgent dream Pride was having so suddenly turn into something that was forcing him to act in such a pitifully human way? Pride was far too delusional to think that Father would even consider killing them after the Promised day was over, however real a possibility, if Father achieved his goal they would have all outlived his purpose, he wouldn't waste his God-like power on keeping his 'children' alive after that if they had no use to him. Then what would…?

He only watched, dumbfounded, as Pride shook and whispered frightfully under his breath, mewling in quick little gasps, retrained and quiet like Wrath imagined Pride would act to pretend he wasn't really crying at all. It was better he cried that way, nothing like that pathetic whinging Hughes girl, Wrath doubted he could hold his temper if he heard such an awful racket again. Wrath didn't even attempt to somehow comfort him, Pride would find that too shameful, and perhaps, a part of Wrath might have enjoyed seeing his ancient, emotionless older brother distraught and suffering. Pride would deny anything happened at all once he woke, but the gentle stream of tears tricking over his cheeks said otherwise, and Wrath wasn't sure whether to be pleased that Pride was capable of experiencing actual emotions, even if it took a pessimistic dream of Father doing something terrible to him manifesting as a fever to do so.

"**I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"** Pride only became more distressed, his quiet cries dying down but his sharp gasps only increased, eyes darting about beneath their lids in terror, until he curled as tight as he could, holding his breath with a high pitched whine in his throat. A violent shudder ran up through him, before he collapsed limply back into the mattress. Wrath raised his eyebrow again, had he died in his dream? It certainly seemed so, Pride's small and for now helpless figure remaining motionless for a few minutes until he twitched, a calmer if still uneasy breath escaping him.

A few occasional sobs still shook him though, his cheeks flushed a little in his previous hysterics (by Pride's standards), and in his pathetic little ball he raised his hand, pressing his thumb into his mouth to attempt to console himself, though he was still dejectedly frowning around it, a few sparse tears still forcing their way out from beneath his eyelids. Still, it wasn't Wrath's place to offer any comfort, that was more appropriate for Lenore, she didn't know the monster he was underneath, she wouldn't hesitate in rushing to soothe him whether it was part of his deception or not.

"I'll tell your mother you'll be waking soon. She truly loves you; it would worry her terribly if you didn't get over this 'fever' soon, Selim." With a lopsided grimace Wrath wrung the thin cloth out and laid it haphazardly over Pride's forehead, though he didn't react to it in the slightest, still too miserable to even wake up even though his dream had seemingly ended.

He mustn't dawdle too much, if he stayed for too long she would begin to worry about him, think there was something more serious than she had thought wrong with Selim (like there _could _be), Pride wasn't worth any of her concern, no matter how much she cared for him. She would still worry no matter what he said, but at least he could reassure her that Pride's supposed fever had gone and that he'd probably wake soon.

Not saying a thing, Wrath stepped out the room closing the door behind him, leaving Pride to suffer through his pessimistic dreaming, alone.

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Sorry this chapter was so short, I'm not really well practiced in writing Wrath so this chapter gave me a lot of trouble, I was going to ask MuddyWolf for help but since she's on hiatus I couldn't, but I hope this chapter was ok nonetheless ;_;

Now, there was a few hints to things this chapter, but you won't be able to get them until later on, so why did I include them? Who knows I just like hinting stuff that no one catches ^^;

Hopefully I'll see you all within a month ^^


	46. Atonement

A/N: Three weeks away, but now I'm back ^^ my exams start next week so I'll be away again until they finish at the end of May/beginning of June. I am using this one-month hiatus as an excuse for why this chapter is so bloody long o_o;; this is what happens when you give me three weeks to mess around when I've become used to only one or two weeks. Oh, you may say that this chapter's fine, it's only like, 700 WORDS longer than my longest chapter, perfectly normal… O_O#

Now, I know I should have updated on my second anniversary or something, but as that is falling on a Monday, tomorrow, and my update day is Sunday I decided I'm gonna update on my 2nd anniversary-eve, it's only two hours to midnight here anyway ^_^

Also, as you know I'm a horrible horrible person who abuses my power of the T rating , but I'm gonna be nice and warn you about the horrible things in this chapter ^^; luckily I've gone so bad this time that this is the worst it'll get, so it's all plain sailing from now on…trauma-wise ^_^

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-Fan:

Yay for quick updates, and now with my exams they're gonna be a thing of the past ;) I know right, only 14 chapters to go, gotta make the most of them and do the best I can ^^ 

I'm happy that you thought I wrote Wrath ok, since he really was hard work to try and figure out ^^; yeah, I tried to show their mental fight they're having other Lenore, and that Wrath would just think that anything Pride did would be to steal Lenore away from him ^^ Yes, poor Pride ;_; it's a shame that his reaction is more subdued as what he's dreaming of gets worse, just because as he gets older in his dreaming he tries harder to suppress his emotions T_T

Yay for my muddled hidden things ^_^ luckily this chapter I've tried to explain them at the end. I hope everyone gets all the other things that I forget to explain at least, maybe I just overestimate my power of subtlety ^^;

Velgamidragon:

Yay, I'm happy that you thought I did an OK job at characterising Wrath, and to someone who likes Wrath so much I take that as a real honour ^_^ I have my plans for young-Wrath in hand for now so I hope you'll like that as well ^^

Well, it's not really any surprise that Pride can cry without having to fake it, he cried a whole lot in the last too interludes, and I do spent a good deal of time making statements from Pride's point of view which the reader knows are lies. Pride tells a lot of lies to make himself feel better ^_^ Of course he'd never admit to being so upset and showing it if he was awake though.

Violetlight:

I'm glad I managed to get Wrath's character across in such a small chapter, as well as his annoyance at his thought of Pride pretending. So I'm happy I got his likability across as well, even though what he has in mind isn't anywhere near benevolent, since Wrath is a homunculus I'm fond of but haven't really had time to properly figure out his personality ^^

I am excited to get into Wrath and Pride's relationship, though it'll have to wait until after my exams of course ^^

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Forty-Six: Atonement**

**July 12th 1863**

Voices. He could hear voices near him. No doubt the remaining souls in his Stone shrieking like always, the ones that he had suddenly began to understand a century or so ago…after he'd…

They were much quieter than before, despite being so close to him, their agonised formless wisps flowing around him, through him on occasion, sending a filthy ripple along his soul. Why wasn't he being protected, where had the shadow that held him gone? A small vestige of it twisted a little, wrapping around him affectionately, weak, and barely enough to even cover him, but Pride didn't dare open his eyes, he didn't want to see them, he was in too precarious a position to do anything, one error and he would waste the few souls that remained inside him. He didn't even know how he knew where he was, he'd never been here before as far as he could remember.

_Lonely here…almost everyone gone now…_

The twitchy little something whispered to him from somewhere far below, the sound somehow reaching him with ease, probably because there were so few souls left to interfere with it. The void shifted slightly, and Pride allowed himself a grimace as the thin shadow cradling him tightened at the feeling of something drifting up to him.

_It's funny… after all this time…I…I'm frightened…it's been so long that I can't imagine actually…_

The something spoke in a hushed, anxious tone, emulating his human voice perfectly, a soft sadness about it underneath its nervousness.

_Is this it, Pride? Am I finally going to…?_

What felt like a hand brushed softly against his cheek, frigid and yet at the same time scorching, but not painful. The skin-like feel of it melted away into mist, passing through him like the others. It yelped almost in surprise, sighing after a moment.

_Oh…you must be so weak, stealing energy from a wretched thing like me…don't worry, you won't go insane here. I don't think _you_ can…_

Pride didn't say anything, only willing the shadow to expand and cover him completely, anything to allow him to sleep and force the voices away. The something gasped, but he ignored it, curling in on himself, the shadow bending to mould around him seamlessly as he forced it to grow.

_No, if you use your shadow more you'll only make yourself worse, Pride! _

It shuddered as another voice quietened and faded away, pleading more forcefully now.

_Hardly even a score now…you need to wake up…please, stop—_

PRIDE…AWAKE NOW…?

A much louder voice boomed from outside, outside wherever he was, where he needed to be, rather than being so weak and useless here. The something didn't say anything more, freezing in its fear of the outside voice, before it sank down to where it had been before, flitting away with an echoing childlike scream.

Completely enveloped in his diminished shadow, Pride's fragile, helpless soul was smothered, lovingly crushed and suffocated beneath his shadow's oppressive affections, because it was too small to protect him properly, that used to come so naturally to it. Gently now, it lifted him away, to where the tortured cries of the others where harder to hear, if he couldn't hear them he couldn't be upset. If nothing else, they could still do that at least.

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PRIDE…

PRIDE…

YOU…WAKE UP YET…?

Pride was almost too exhausted to even open his eyes, half-heartedly wishing that whatever voice was trying to pull him awake would be quiet and let him sleep. Though he didn't want to return to that peculiar dream, sleep felt like the only thing he could do at the moment. He was moving, a slow, soothing rumbling echoing about wherever he was, it sounded like…digging.

"**Sloth… is that you?"**

"AWAKE NOW, PRIDE?" The rumbling stopped, and something twitched, prodding at his back, pushing him so he was sat up. Pride turned to inspect what he was lying on, there were…fingers? How did he get here? Before he was…

Pride remembered now, remembered what Father had done to him because he'd attacked Gluttony. He deserved it, of course he did, Father would have never hurt him like that unless he had deserved it.

"**How did I get here, Sloth?"**

"FOUND YOU. WALKING BACK AND SAW SPARKING. WASN'T BREATHING WHEN FOUND YOU."

"**I…died?" **Ashamed as Pride was to admit it, it didn't really surprise him; he was barely skirting the line between being conscious and falling into another coma as it was. It didn't make any sense why Sloth had found him, and had taken to carrying him around. A sharp, awful thought appeared. Perhaps Father had told Sloth of his behaviour while he'd been asleep, wanting him to be killed anyway having thought it over. It would be far too easy, in the darkness he couldn't even try to resist with his shadows; Sloth could simply scoop out a fistful of the tunnel wall, revealing the limit of his barrier and force him inside. In an instant the thought stagnated, and distorted into an even worse alternative. He had no sense of direction in the darkness, Sloth could be digging the wrong way and he'd never even know, only once his skin began to flake and burn, his eyes would probably burst in the toxic air, and Sloth would drop him because Father would want him to suffer even more. He would be curled up in a decaying, fracturing, cowering ball in the earth, the darkness would pull and snatch and tear the shadows out of him until his container was nothing but dust, and he would die, so far away from Father, completely alone, isolated and exiled from his very species in those fleeting final moments.

Sloth only clasped his spare hand over him, assuming his violent trembling to be shivering instead, pulling him closer protectively. All of Pride's pessimistic assumptions faltered, and sputtered away, even if he didn't understand why Sloth was doing this, being so assured that he wasn't under orders to be killed _yet _was enough.

"NOT MOVE WHEN I PICK YOU UP. NOT TALK. SPARKED FOR A WHILE BUT NOT WAKE UP, PRIDE." Sloth lifted his hand to look at him properly, even though there was no light in the tunnel so it seemed pointless "SPARKING…MADE ME UNDERSTAND, IS NO SLAVE, RIGHT, PRIDE? LIVING INSIDE SLAVE, MAYBE." Pride couldn't see anything in the darkness, and flinched terribly as he felt one of Sloth's fingers brush against his head, gentle enough despite his size. There was no point trying to fix his hair, such a dishevelled appearance was appropriate, to match his inner turmoil and shame.

"…**Thank you." **It felt disgusting, thanking someone as dull witted as Sloth for finding him in such a pathetic state and looking after him, but as Father's warning of what would happen if he was caught not respecting his siblings again flashed in his mind he knew that it would be a much more common occurrence from now on. Even so, the idea that he would have been dead if Sloth hadn't found him was abhorrent to say the least. **"I can walk though, Sloth. I must…I must return to Father and atone for what I did." **Sloth probably felt the shiver that ran through him as he thought of returning to Father, he needed to repent in whatever way he could, but if Father thought he was being insincere then he wouldn't hesitate in punishing him again. Still, the longer he spent away from Father the more suspicious of him he would become, would Father think he had deserted him like Greed had? No, surely Father knew that he would never be so disrespectful as to do something like that…

Sloth lowered his hand to let him down, and Pride set his legs on the floor, shuffling off, but his right leg buckled immediately, crumpling and then he was sinking into the dirt in an undignified heap. Why were his legs not working properly? A crack, he remembered the loud cracks he'd heard when he fell, had he damaged his container somehow, and was took weak to regenerate it? It would explain why his arms were so much weaker as well. A tender pinch near his neck, lifting him up by his scarf, it would have been half strangling him if he weren't so lightweight, or his scarf not so soft.

"HURT STILL, PRIDE?" The fact that he was in such a shameful position, hanging by his neck between his dull witted brother's fingers spoke volumes in itself. But being all too aware of his Father's words, Pride, in his damaged, half-hollow container, let himself sigh, and nodded sadly into the darkness.

"**I suppose I am, Sloth. I cannot walk yet, and I cannot return to Father in such a state."** Sloth only lowered him back into his hand, fingers bending to accommodate his shape, folding over him with the greatest of care, serving as a makeshift blanket he never asked for.**" I will…stay here until I can present myself to Father in a more suitable condition." **

"HOPE…GET BETTER SOON, PRIDE." As Sloth continued to dig, hindered by only using one hand, Pride couldn't say that the slow rumble of the dirt wasn't soothing. In the endless dark of the tunnel it was the only thing excepting the warmth from Sloth's hand that Pride's senses could pick up. As his thoughts once again returned to Father's warning, Pride, curled pitifully up in Sloth's hand, curled tighter as he whispered again the rarest words of humility, that at any other moment would have been reserved only for Father.

"…**Thank you."**

0 * 0 * 0

**July 15th 1863**

When he was younger, in those first three years or so since he had woke in his container, Father had provided him with his leg braces to help him walk efficiently, strips of iron and leather that hurt sometimes but for the most part was pleasant enough, until he had become ill and needed them removed while he rested, never to be used again, even after he recovered, he had grown out of them by that time.

However, as Pride landed unceremoniously on his behind as Sloth threw him up out of the tunnel with a nonchalant flick of his wrist, he conceded that, as his legs were still too weak to support him effectively, he would need to fashion some rudimentary substitute for his long obsolete leg braces to even allow him to reach Father and apologise for his appalling behaviour however many days earlier. Cautiously Pride let a mere puddle of shadow pour from his feet, feeling those few inside him pull tight as they attempted to control each part of his container with so little of them remaining to do so. The puddle split into four separate streams, winding up each leg with two overcrossing paths like long thin stems, completely unseen beneath his trousers. There, that would have to do for now.

Pride leaned against the wall as he went, brooding, wondering how he could possibly phrase his apology, Father only had his Wrath left inside him, and one false move would mean death in an instant. But he mustn't think like that, being pessimistic would only make him worry and increase the chances of him faltering even more. It didn't even matter, if Father didn't forgive him he wouldn't have any reason to live anymore anyway, without Father he had no purpose, and if Father didn't love him he would probably regret creating him in the first place; his life held no meaning without Father to love him.

Father was reading as Pride inched in through the corridor, his pessimism had been forced from his thoughts now, only showing as a noticeable trembling and frightful undercurrent to his saddened tone. The book was closed and Father glared at him the instant his dirt covered shoe touched the floor of his room. Pride recoiled at the unavoidable atmosphere that hung in the air, cold and ashamed and yet so full of the _hate_ directed only at him.

"Hello, Pride." He could do it. He could do it right now. One hateful thought and he would cease to be. A moment passed, was he allowed to speak? Did Father want him to reply? "Come here, Pride." Despite his petrified state Pride still managed to shuffle meekly over to Father's chair, and decided upon bowing down on his knees, keeping his head low.

"Do you have anything to say?"

"**I…I'm sorry, Father. Please forgive me for my unacceptable behaviour. I deserved it completely, Father. You were right to punish me, you're always right…" **The silence gnawed at his insides, why wasn't Father saying anything? Was he…was he thinking of how to dispose of him? **"I-I…I will do a-anything to repent. I will never disobey you again. But…but if you think I do not deserve your forgiveness, I will not resist in any way, I would never dream of going against your wishes, Father." **A hand pressed into the back of his head,it was sparking, _Oh no. No no no no _no. He wasn't ready; It couldn't be the end yet. It just couldn't…**"I-I-I'm sorry, Father. I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" **His frenzied mind could only form fragmented scraps of words, his desperate mantra of pleading forgiveness the only thing that made sense anymore. Squeezing his eyes shut he could feel the tears dribbling out from the corners of his eyes, dripping and marring Father's floor. _I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…_

"Do you wish to work for me again, Pride?" Father's voice so close made every fibre of him freeze, though his mind still reeling he could barely process what he was even saying. The feeling of Father's alchemy was spreading now, doing what Pride didn't want to know, only trying to form words so Father didn't think he was being ignorant.

"**Y-Y-Yes." **There was a fizzing underneath his skin now, familiar in a way, but so was…

"Will you continue to be loyal, as you previously were?"

"**Yes. Y-Yes, Father." **The fizzing only intensified, still not painful in the least, unless he was in too much pain to feel anything and if he was at that stage then it wouldn't be long until…His arms gave out, but Father's hand was there to keep him up, and he pushed him onto his knees gently. The feeling bled away into the floor, and Pride lifted his tear drenched head in a mix of curiosity and relief.

"Your barrier has again been extended. I have a task for you to complete that will involve you travelling further than you have previously in your container. It is very important, Pride. I want you to live, and covertly observe my _potential Wraths_ at the third alchemic laboratory. Do not disappoint me." Father pressed his finger against his lips, and Pride opened his mouth a fraction, suckling weakly as the skin at the tip of Father's finger split, Stone dripping into his mouth and forming on his tongue. Pride only mustered a smile, and gulped it down with a grateful sigh, ignoring the new flood of voices as his Stone was replenished, sixty souls at the most now, but that was more than he deserved.

"This will be enough to sustain you while you are away."

Pride appreciated it more than anything.

0 * 0 * 0

**July 23rd 1863**

Father hadn't even given him a glance this morning, today was important, so important that it was only when he had proven himself and atoned for what he had done would Father love him again, so Pride didn't mind waiting patiently. Father would tell him when it was time for him to leave and completely integrate himself into the facility, and so he had curled himself into a little ball on the floor, only staring ahead and counting the seconds, not even reading because Father had forbade it- he didn't even deserve to touch Father's books until he had repented.

There wasn't a point in getting dressed today, Father said they would provide him with appropriate clothes once he arrived there, so in his tight little ball Pride had tucked his knees into his chest and pulled his nightgown over them, letting his frilled lilac sleeves brush the floor lightly, disturbing stray spots of dust as he did, not that it really mattered, it was all he could do to pass the time. He had seen Lust, Gluttony and Envy walking off to somewhere a while ago, well, only heard them; he didn't raise his head to greet them, much like he couldn't feel their gazes on him as they went. They were probably under orders to not acknowledge him in any way, he was being made an example of. Though they were younger and had more leeway than him it was probably still a very real threat to them, his punishment would dissuade them from doing such things. The memories of that day less than a fortnight before were still so fresh in his mind, Father's warning still reverberating in his head at least six times each day, he mustn't do anything that was disrespectful of his siblings without good reason, even thinking such things was so treasonous that Father wouldn't hesitate in punishing him again, with a much more permanent outcome this time.

It was those thoughts in a slow, shifting loop in his head that was what caused Pride to flinch so violently as he was cloaked in the grey of Father's shadow. Unsure if Father wanted him to look at him or not he kept his head low, not daring to make a sound.

"Pride." The word, the sound of his name felt tainted and horrible now, only making him wince even more, and he could only muster slowly craning his neck and turning around slightly, eyes so shamefully wide and fearful.

"**Y-Yes, Father?"**

"It is time for you to leave, Pride. Follow along the corridor that leads to the alchemic laboratories, you will meet the alchemist doctor waiting for you under the third laboratory." There was nothing of remorse there, he didn't deserve to have any, but at least he had a method of atoning now, no matter how long it took. "You are not to overexert yourself while you are making observations at the facility, I will _not _be providing you with any more Philosopher's Stones during your time there. If you are wasteful…" It didn't need to be said, Pride only nodding with a terrified frown, though it was quickly replaced by determination and loyalty to do what Father had instructed of him.

The thin tendrils of shadow wrapped around Pride's legs again to keep him standing straight as he pushed himself to his feet, doing this was fine, but the empty space in his container, the minute air bubbles inside him, was far too apparent to his liking, and he knew that if he used them too often or forced too many out of his container (though this being a covert observation he doubted he would need to) he would be dead before very long. The shadows quivered a little in the empty space of his stomach at the thought, the fifty or so souls in his Stone churning about irritably with their agonised moans. Pride ignored them for the moment, far too occupied in keeping himself upright to care about them, whether they were the only thing keeping him alive or not. Pride had thought the weakness in his leg was caused by the lack of souls inside him before, even if it persisted even now it was nothing to speak to Father about, he would be fine after a few days he was sure.

"**I will do my utmost in repenting for my previous actions, Father. I will not squander the Stone you have given to me; I desire nothing more than to do as you have instructed me." **Pride waited a moment in case Father wanted to tell him something before he left, but when the sound never came he dusted himself off and walked towards the corridor that led to the alchemic laboratories **"Goodbye, Father." **Pride didn't know which word to use, though he wouldn't be away for _that _long anything else would be too informal to use with Father.

"Farewell, my child." hearing it, knowing that once he left he'd be away from Father for longer than he ever had in his life made something hurt in a way, it made him realize how much Father was disappointed in him. Of course Pride didn't mind it at all, if it meant Father wouldn't be ashamed of him anymore.

Once he did this one thing everything could go back to normal. And that was the most important thing, nothing else mattered at all.

0 * 0 * 0

"What a pleasure it is to finally meet you, Pride." After walking for the better part of two hours Pride had reached the area underneath the third alchemic library, under construction as far as the public was aware of, but for now it was being used to house the young humans who were being trained and educated until one of them was fit enough to house Father's Wrath and become his final sibling. Pride regarded the one overseeing the whole operation with a put on smile; it was oh so convenient how the abandoned, illegitimate child of that disgraced youngest son of General Steiner could have become of such use to them. Having collected him from the Vectora orphanage he had been detained within the first alchemic laboratory while it was being constructed in the midst of the border conflict with Aerugo, and educated in alchemy there. He had been passed from one laboratory to the other ever since.

"**Nice to meet you as well." **There was no point in trying to assign a name to him; he probably didn't have one anyway, he had no use for one.

"You will be living within our facility for some time I understand, as is what your Father has told me."

"**That is correct."**

"He also instructed me to ensure that you use your 'human' voice at all times while you are on this observation. I trust you will not object to your Father's wishes, isn't that right, Pride?" a wince, of course, Father was testing him, Father had probably given the alchemist many different strict instructions on how he was to behave while away, it was perfectly fine, he…he wouldn't dare go against any of them.

"**I…" **the thin, diminished shadows in his throat shivered as they wrapped tighter around his vocal cords, regulating his now seldom used human voice "I will follow my Father's orders impeccably while I am here, as I always will, Mister Doctor." The alchemist's lips twitched and curved into something of a smile, teeth showing, one of them was replaced with a cube of gold, which was rather…odd to say the least.

"Very good. Now, as you will be joining the other candidates in three days time we must first assess if you are…ready to join them. If you will follow me this way we will conduct your medical examination immediately." The doctor led him down the corridor to a room with two barred windows, why windows were even required underground was beyond Pride, but he didn't question it. There was a single table in the middle of the room, and a tray on wheels filled with medical equipment. The doctor only pulled him along up to something of a ruler on legs and asked him to stand still beside it, bringing another piece of wood down until it rested against the top of his head. Pride pulled himself to the side and pattered away as the doctor leaned forward to inspect where the ruler had been measured up to.

"Hmm, forty-four inches tall. I will see to it that suitable clothes are found for you soon." Height wasn't something Pride thought about very often, in his act as a child a small stature was imperative, and he never paid enough attention to how tall humans were supposed to be at certain stages in their short lives to set any concrete expectations for whatever age, they certainly didn't deserve his effort in stretching his container for any long periods of times at any rate.

The doctor scribbled something down on a piece of paper before ushering him to sit on the table, Pride climbing onto it immediately, albeit with some difficulty. "It is standard procedure to perform an eye test, though with your _new _eyes I am sure your vision will be impeccable, Pride." another tiny shudder, he knew about _that _as well? If he saw it the alchemist didn't make any comment on it, hooking something with letters painted over it on the wall, about twenty feet away from where he was sitting "This is the new official eye examination used by the military. Please could you cover one eye and read the letters as I instruct you." Still grimacing a tad from the shame of having the human knowing in such detail what had happened to him Pride did so, holding his right hand over his eye and staring intently at the very large letter on the top line "The first row, if you will." It was so absurdly easy, did some humans have trouble reading such clear letters?

"E."

"The next row." Below the giant 'E' were two slightly smaller letters, which were only marginally less effortless to read

"F, P." Pride carried on, going down the rows as they filled up with more nonsensical arrangements of letters, until he started to squint as he reached the ninth row, stubbornly refusing to not at least attempt to complete the exam with one eye. "L, E, T O… P… F… C…T?" a faint ashamed blush appeared on his cheeks as he immediately realised he was mistaken, the doctor shaking his head, requesting that he cover his other eye and repeat the test. But of course, there was no reason for him to be ashamed with his result, he was only in the presence of a _human_, and the colour bar said that he was above the average expected of humans anyway, so what did it matter?

"…L, E, F, O, D, P, T and C." His mistakes rectified perfectly now he smiled, though made no attempt to read the penultimate line, finding the whole examination tedious already.

"Very good, Pride. Now, we must examine your spinal cord to ensure you do not have _scoliosis._" The gleam on his glasses flickered a little, still not revealing his eyes under the light, but his ever present gold specked smile only widened a fraction as he spoke"Take your nightgown off." Though the oddness of it all crossed Pride's mind for a split second, he had long since realised that Father wanted him to partake in this examination, so he would not complain and just try to go through it as quickly as possible. Pushing himself from the table Pride pulled his arms out of his sleeves and to his chest, letting his still-slightly-too-big nightgown slide onto the floor in a small silk bundle.

Without a moment's warning the doctor heaved him to the side by his shoulders until Pride was standing in front of him, pressing onto his shoulders, murmuring something about them being equal in height before moving lower to press against the two things below them that Pride had no word for, as Pride had never read Father's book on human anatomy.

"Shoulder blades seem fine." He only continued to prod at him roughly, and yet it was tinged with something playful about it as well, centring his head as Pride tried to turn to see what he was doing, measuring the distance between his shoulders and neck with his fingers "Head is properly centred as well. Please lean forward so I can examine your spinal cord properly." The single finger again pushed into his back until only the dusty grey floor greeted him, his arms dangling a little. It was all pointless of course, no matter how required of him. The touch was softer this time, as if he thought that if he pushed any harder he'd fall over or something probably so utter human like that, sliding over each of the ligaments on his spine until he reached his waist, seemingly content that they were aligned correctly.

"Nothing wrong so far. Please excuse me for a moment." The peculiar alchemist wandered back to the table, pulling out a stick of chalk from his pocket and scribbled something over it, and Pride, reluctantly following him, pushed himself onto his tiptoes and saw it to be an unusual transmutation circle that he didn't recognise from any of Father's books.

"Why are you making a transmutation circle? There isn't anything wrong with my container." If there was Pride would have known and regenerated to fix it, and failing that Father would have, unless this was part of Father's test as well.

"This is for later, Pride. Do not worry yourself about it." By now Pride had pottered back to his nightgown and was busy pulling it over his head, the feeling of exposure at wearing so few clothes beginning to affect him. "Do not put it back on, Pride. We still have much to do. Please lie down on the table." With something of a sigh Pride dropped the nightgown back on the floor. Before he had time to push himself onto the table again the doctor had already lifted him from under his arms and laid him down, still grinning all the while. Even though Pride had long since passed the brink of understanding the reason for any of these examinations, he still accepted them without a murmur; Father wouldn't like it if he didn't do as he wished, if the doctor told Father he was not behaving appropriately then…

It wasn't until something cold was pressed against his chest did Pride leave his constantly worrying daze, squirming at the feeling. It was a cone shaped piece of brass attached to something that split into two and fit into the doctor's ears. "M-Must check your heart, Pride." Heart? Pride knew what hearts were, only humans had hearts, he had his Stone, and his had been silent ever since he had imitated the Amestrian Prince over a hundred years before. It was futile, even if the odd alchemist's exaggerated smile wouldn't leave his face as he shifted the brass cone around his chest to attempt to hear a pulse he wouldn't find one. The shadows were squirming a little too, the hole inside where his stomach would have been if he was a human (perish the thought) filling and the gap opening in his chest instead, it growing as the shadows knotted themselves together there, like a tight black ball, his Stone had probably been moved elsewhere though where Pride would never be able to determine. The thin strings supporting it twitched, until the little knot itself pulsed, making him flinch at the unfamiliar sensation, eyes widening a fraction. It continued to throb loudly in a measured rhythm, and it was only its consistency that allowed Pride to not flinch each time.

"A nice, strong heartbeat." His shadow's heavy-handed imitation seemed to have worked well enough to convince the doctor that it was his Stone instead, which for now would do perfectly fine, if it meant he'd be satisfied and he could stop being examined.

"I need to check you for a _hernia_ now, Pride." The pulsing died down; shadows thinning out in their futile attempts to fill the space in his container, again to no avail. Nevertheless, Pride allowed himself a sigh at the pulse ceasing, letting his eyes slide shut. He could hear the doctor messing with something, the piece of brass and the cold spot on his chest fading as he put it away. "Well, there are two types of hernia test; I will perform the first one now." There was a hitch, a sudden change in the alchemist's tone that set Pride on edge, being the artificial creation he was Pride had no natural instinct to rely on, but even so the slightest part of him _knew _something was wrong. Without warning the doctor's hands were pressing into his stomach, prodding and poking around, as if feeling for something that wouldn't be there. They pulled up, poking into the space between his artificial ribs, something like glee beginning to creep into the alchemist's tone as he counted them. Gliding over to the left side he started counting again, but he pushed and his container didn't resist, sinking down where they should have been, returning to normal as he skirted over it and back down. "Two ribs are missing, how odd." His hand was clammy and hot at the same time, heating his stomach, and its general texture sent an icy shudder running down Pride's decidedly perfectly aligned spine, but that only made the doctor press down harder to keep him still.

"What are you doing?"

"Now, Pride, do not make a fuss. You will wipe the circle away, and that would be— unfortunate. You need to cough so I can feel for any weakness in your muscles." Pride did so, only so it meant he would be happy and stop checking him for this senseless _hernia _in his muscles that didn't exist. A few more seconds of pushing and prodding in his stomach and he seemed satisfied "No hernia here." It was nonsense to even consider the possibility of there being any, but at least it was over now. "Of course, there are _other _places you can develop a hernia, Pride. I must check elsewhere as well." It was the persistent feel of the doctor's hand still resting on his bare, cool stomach for a few seconds too long that made him fidget a little, lazily forcing his eyes open as little slits, only meeting the doctor's gold-toothed smile and the faint glaze on his glasses.

"W-What are y-y-you-?"

"Your Father asked me to take you into my facility, you would not _disobey_ him by refusing to complete the physical examination, would you, Pride?" He stretched the end of his name out as his fingers dug into his abdomen harder, slinking lower, and another shudder ran though him.

_This isn't right…_

The something almost convulsed awake, crying out softly, though its fear was so obvious Pride knew it wasn't trying to keep up appearances with him anymore, its crimson cloud not fluffy and round, but stretched into thin sharp points, completely still and rigid, as if not daring to move. Pride was doing the same, biting his lip as the doctor's index finger dipped into his false belly-button for a brief moment, carrying on without missing a beat, and Pride could feel an ashamed blush forming on his face, the indignity of it all spreading along his container, bubbling its way up his throat like bile until he could hardly breathe. And the voice was shrieking, the spikes only growing as it did, voice drenched in disgust and a searing rage.

_Do you really think your Father wants this to happen? !_

Father was punishing him; of course he must have wanted him to be humiliated like this even during his repentance, this alchemist, however- eccentric, would never lie about such an important matter. All of this was what Father wanted to happen, and who was he to question it? The something grew fainter, discouraged, its fury dying away into its usual vulnerability, until it could only bleat out a feeble plea.

_Stop it; Make him stop…please…_

The doctor's hand continued its slimy venture unperturbed, travelling faster now, something of eagerness in it. With his eyes closed his other senses picked up on the most terrible of things. His ears caught the almost inaudible chuckling. His skin could feel the warm, dank pores of the alchemist's fingertips against it, quivering unnoticeably beneath them as they roamed freely down his body.

_Make him stop… Makehimstop. _

He didn't want to feel such things…if he opened his eyes his senses could be divided again and it would go away. But part of him didn't want to see either.

_Useyourshadowsor s-s-s-_something_! Idon'tevencareanymore!_

Its fury returned, blearing through his head, its sporadic insanity beginning to claw at it, words becoming muddled and all coherent thought deteriorating. Pride winced at the slight throb in his head at the sound, groaning quietly. He could _still_ hear the alchemist's deranged laughing over it, and it only seemed to increase as he heard his faint groan. His fingers were pulling at his drawers, brushing where they ended under his knees. Tugging at one leg it came sliding down, only a tad, but it was enough to send another wave of shame rippling through him again, beginning to make his own thoughts falter and come to a stop.

"What a _peculiar _body you have, Pride. It seems you do not have an ouroboros tattoo." His voice was different now, rising in unsteady tones higher, undulating almost, every word dripping with…something. "I could make you one," He was rubbing gently, softly at the indent that ran along his hip in a slow continuous motion, dipping his fingers in the ridge and hooking his fingers along it as he did, pushing under it every so often "anywhere you liked…" Only Father could do something like that, but the impudence was lost on him, the shame and humiliation becoming too much, and Pride's mind began to flicker, began to force him to believe it wasn't happening at all, his senses muting.

"You're being awfully disruptive. Do you want to go home Pride? Do you not want to complete the examination as your Father has instructed?" He didn't want to be here, every second he spent on this table was torture, but Father wanted him to suffer, he deserved to suffer…Father wanted this…and Father could never be wrong…

_whyaren'tyoudoinganything?_

His other hand was clamped around his thigh, pinching at his drawers with a huff "These are much too long; we will need to cut them shorter before you join the others. Or…" his hand slid along the top of them, neatly, like he was cutting his stomach open with a knife. It burned as if it was anyway. Every inch of him was burning in his shame "We could simply…" another twisted little laugh, closer, too close now. Pride's eyes shot wide, and he cringed and curled in on himself as he saw the doctor looming over him. His spare hand was there to push him straight back down again. There was no sheen on his glasses now; his gold specked smile didn't glisten. He could see his eyes; his eyes were…they were…

_They were turned outwards. _Pupils staring out from behind the glass in opposite directions, and yet Pride knew they were staring directly at him. It took his mind a few moments to realise he was trembling. The voice was screaming as loud as it could, but it felt distant now, nothing but an anguished, desperate whisper.

"Please…" He didn't want to say it, and only shook his head with a grimace.

…_tellhimtostopPride!_

Only his smile and unfocused eyes leered back at him. Whatever terrible thing was going to follow, it was because Father willed it, would never be swayed by his pathetic behaviour, if anything not accepting it calmly like he was probably expected to was even worse than whatever would happen. The doctor's smile widened even more, and his hand darted beneath and down down _down_, and …

The moment dragged on for what seemed like hours. The voice faded away almost instantly having worn itself out with all its panicked interruptions. Not knowing was the worst thing. Pride, who could only understand the world through knowledge, and twisting such knowledge to suit himself, being so unsure was unbearable.

And then…the moment passed. Pride forced his eyes open, and saw that the horrible insincere grin and the doctor's misdirected eyes (any doubts that the human had something seriously amiss in his chemical makeup was wiped away immediately the _moment_ he had seen them) were gone. Sitting up he saw that the alchemist had pulled his drawers completely down; studying whatever lay underneath them, the doctor tsking sadly to himself.

"Nothing there…what a…peculiar body you have, Pride." He seemed disheartened almost, firmly pulling his drawers up higher and tying them tight. "You don't have a hernia there either." Pride was too relieved that it was over to ask why he hadn't needed to cough this time to confirm such a thing. He was still shivering weakly, his fear and embarrassment slowly melting away, though he could feel a single drop of something wet sliding down his cheek.

His nightgown was roughly pulled over his head and covered him completely; it was cool and comforting, and the gnawing feeling of being so shamefully exposed faded entirely. "Only one thing left, Pride. I only need to use alchemy to determine a few things about your container. I noticed that you were not walking properly." with such abnormal eyes it was no wonder he needed glasses, or relied on alchemy so much to assist him in such a simple task. Though, thinking it over, Pride was rather grateful that he was unable to perform any other physical exams himself.

"One of my legs is…unusually weaker than the other at the moment."

"I see. I will investigate that now, please sit up." With reluctance and apprehension Pride pushed himself up, shuffling backwards until his afflicted leg was inside the transmutation circle. He found himself glaring a little, the fear and shame of what had happened before was quickly dying away, but was being replaced by something else, something strange. The doctor calmly placed his hand on his leg over the transmutation circle, the circle glowing in a faint pale blue light. It was at that moment that Pride finally realised how inferior and revolting human alchemy was, feeling it flowing up and down his leg like poison, warm and sticky in a way under his skin. The alchemist seemed much more composed now, clinically reaching his ankle, feeling around in a much less _odd _way.

"Hmm…bone density is…thicker above the tibia." he moved higher "Bone density is normal here. But…why is bone even…?" Pride hadn't the faintest idea what the eccentric alchemist was talking about, he didn't have any bones inside his container, surely such was obvious. His leg sparked a few more times with the horribly blue alchemic light instead of the glorious scarlet of Father's Stone powered alchemy, and the faintest something seemed the change inside him, but whatever it was eluded him. "There, that might help." That grin was there again. Pride ignored it, pushing himself off the table

…and he collapsed even more pitiably than before, _both _of his legs now too weak to function.

"Oh, you must need more time to strengthen your shadows to accommodate the…diminished amount of souls in your Stone. I'll carry you to your room to better acquaint yourself with your new surroundings, your Father _did _instruct me to help you in any way I can in your repentance." So many shameful things the alchemist knew about him, constantly highlighting his mistake as well as his purpose here. Pride didn't resist as the doctor stooped down to put one arm under him and the other around his back, far too concerned with his own wounded arrogance to notice. He kept his eyes unfocused and roaming along the floor as he was carried away, it so like that of Father's lair, but not as ancient and regal, polished and modern in its human inadequacy, and most definitely not as _perfect._

It was the fact that he needed to be carried, and that cold human type of sterility, that made him feel more useless than ever.

0 * 0 * 0

"I presumed you would want your own room, rather than sharing the dormitories with the others." The doctor stepped inside the room, Pride still in tow, who glanced around, curious of where he would be living until Father decided he was free to return home. The feeling had quickly returned in his legs, but he could only allow them to swing feebly over the alchemist's arms, more than certain they were still incapable of holding him up. "This room is where a new scientist, Ronald I think his name was, stayed, but he began to show reluctance with the plan and was…_removed_, a month or so ago." There was a bed stretching from one wall to the other, though it was small, even smaller than Lust's cramped bed, dustier too. There was a small table with drawer and cabinet inside it, a candle sitting atop it in a brass holder. The rest of the tiny square of a room was barren, brilliant white walls matching the same brilliant white of the floor; if the room had any stronger light source than the single candle Pride had no doubt the décor would irritate his container's new, still sensitive eyes.

As the doctor set him down on the bed he handed him a white shirt and grey shorts, strange strips of black buttoned to them. "This was the uniform the candidates wore when they were six years old; they should fit your measurements." That glint of something shimmered off his glasses again "Why don't you try them on now, Pride?" This feeling again, exposed even now, all alone in this confined room with Father's ever so trusted alchemist doctor, but surely Father wouldn't ask for such specifics when he was only joining the candidates in three days time. It was the only thing that allowed Pride to shake his head with such violence.

"No. I…I will wear them to see if they fit tomorrow, after I wake up. I'm…_tired_." He feigned a weak yawn, laying the pile of clothes at the foot of the bed, shuffling along to the table to inspect its contents, anything to change the subject. Pulling open the drawer Pride noticed a box of matches and nothing else of interest, he supposed when the human was disposed of all his belongings ended up likewise. His hand wandered to the pillow to turn it over, but something cold met him instead. It was a strange metal object, curved, with a many ridged cylinder at its centre. Pride recognised it from one of Father's books on rather recent technological advances; it was a _pistol, _something humans used to kill each other like the cowards they were rather than getting their hands dirty or using more practical weapons.

"A rather…paranoid fellow as well, Ronald was. Shame really, he seemed loyal enough at first, but he quickly became nothing more than a nuisance. It was for the best that he was disposed of." His words were too exact in theme yet too ambiguously arranged in the specifics to be anything but directed at him. Father's words no doubt. "You can keep the gun if you like, if it makes you feel more…_comfortable _in your new surroundings, Pride." Pride only scowled at the idea, wrinkling his nose at the doctor's absurd suggestions. "I'll leave you to rest now, Pride. I will see you in the morning." In an instant the door was closed and locked, leaving him completely alone in the faint light of the candle. Though, thinking it over, being alone for the first time since he arrived at the facility felt wonderful.

A quiet, genuine yawn escaped him; it was probably such a change for him that it had worn him out. With a frown Pride silently blew out the candle at his bedside and nestled calmly under the thin cover of his stolen room, hand still clutching the human's only remaining possession, tucking it back under his pillow as he rested his head with a dejected sigh. Pride's gaze wandered over to the white of the locked door, thoughts drifting to the eccentric alchemist who Father had entrusted him to. Pride found himself scowling as he remembered his senseless medical examination, his interfering with his container that left him barely able to walk at all. Father wasn't at fault in any way for the alchemist's behaviour, but even so the thought of it made him glower and screw his eyes shut at the unusual emotion forcing itself to the forefront of his mind. He wasn't too sure at the moment, but in time he would come to realise that the strange emotion boiling up inside him was the most intense loathing for the gold-toothed human. Of course, whatever hateful thoughts that would be forming were instantly repressed; his dedication to Father's will was too strong for him to consider even _thinking _of acting against the peculiar doctor. So long as he was of use to Father at least.

For now he'd carry on regardless, repenting was the only thing he could do to ensure Father wouldn't consider him useless or disloyal anymore. But that would only start fully in three days time, so the only thing Pride could do for now was rest, and save his energy for tomorrow.

With all his muddled, conflicting thoughts it was no wonder he was asleep in less than five minutes.

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Phew, hope you guys survived my giant chapter of ramble without that much trouble ;_;

Now, my…interpretation of the Gold Toothed doctor for this chapter came from a lot of places I suppose. The first time the idea crossed my mind was when re-watching episode 59 last summer, as it is the only time Pride and the Goldtoothed doctor share any screen time. I saw that, as Pride is usually quite reserved in his emotions I was surprised that he would form such a poisonous glare on someone so insignificant, stabbing him through the back and using him for human transmutation as well, which led me to believe that whatever history they had together was bad enough to make Pride dislike him very much. This, coupled with the fact that during chapter 87 Madame Christmas says that the Bradley family have a private doctor that they use for Selim's medical examinations who fakes the results to make him look human, which I assumed to be the gold toothed doctor already gave me a bad feeling. As I already knew I that I was sending Pride to the fuhrership facility my horrible mind made me think the worst x_x Also, in English class we've also been reading a play called The History Boys where a group of Sixth form boys get fondled by their fifty-ish teacher, Hector, though at the end they accept it as something they needed to do in exchange for having such a good teacher, and he's portrayed in a very sympathetic way in the end because of the boys were his life and all he could do was pass on his knowledge and nothing else, he is shown a very lonely character, which did make me feel sorry for him in the end ;_; oh, right, so what I was going for is I might portray the doctor in a similar way, since he must have had a crappy life being passed around the alchemist laboratories from such a young age.

I also had the idea of the doctor being related to the Steiner family from when I rewatched the OVA Tales of the Master (which is named for _Lessons of the masters _by George Steiner, which is where the Steiner family get their name I assume. Coincidentally, in _The History Boys _Hector quotes George Steiner's saying that "The transmission of knowledge is in itself an erotic act" referring to teaching, as _Lessons of the Masters_ discusses the relationship between student and teacher). When watching it I saw the similarities in appearance between Gold Steiner and the goldtoothed doctor, with Gold Steiner being 87 in 1897, I saw it very possible that his younger brother, Silver Steiner, a renowned alchemist, who had died by that time, could have been the Gold-toothed doctor's father, though only at a very young age, leading me to concoct that he was abandoned, which would also give him easy access into the military and under the manipulation of the homunculi.

One more thing I want to talk about x_x Now, as it has almost been two years since I first started this fic I wanted to properly explain how a big, pivotal part of my fic came to be:

-In May 2010 I first started my fic, I wasn't sure where I was going with it at all.

-Around May 11th I discovered the Fullmetal Alchemist height chart from the first anime and from that calculated Pride's height (albeit incorrectly, as by the time Pride and Ed first meet Ed has grown a little it seems), I was confused about why he was so small when Arakawa said he could stretch his container to make himself taller. Given that I was stuck about how to Pride's container came to be the fact that it was so much shorter than the average 8-10 year old boy made me even more confused.

- On the 13th of May I watched a documentary on BBC 2 called History Cold Case, and as fate would have it the episode was about the mummified body of an 18th century boy that was used as a teaching specimen. It's a really interesting documentary you guys should watch it if you have the time since it's on youtube here (http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=4Ot59Shbe2Y). The most poignant thing I discovered while watching it is that when they were measuring the skeleton the top half of the body said that the boy was 7 or 8 years old, while the long bones like the femur and the fibula said that the boy was 5. The skeleton had a CT scan done on it and it was discovered that above the ankle the boy had Harris lines, which is where something happened which caused the bone to stutter while growing, putting lines of dense bone there and leaving a thick white mark on the x-ray, which meant that when he was alive the boy either suffered from malnutrition or disease, causing him to have such a stunted growth. You can see how that had such an effect on my explanation for where Pride's container came from, I'm really grateful that I happened to see that documentary or else I don't know how my fic would have turned out since it was so helpful ^^; So since CT scans and x-rays weren't invented back then I thought that the doctor would be able to detect bone density with alchemy since the first part of alchemy is to figure out everything on a chemical level. ^_^

Wow, that was a giant rant of stuff wasn't it? Well, I'd better be getting ready for my exams while I have a day off tomorrow for the bank holiday. See you all after exams in a month ^_^


	47. Fuhrer Candidate Number 316

A/N: Phew, exams are over now, and I'm on half term, yay, we're back in business~~

Violetlight:

Yeah…sorry the chapter was so long, I have no idea what happened ^^;

Yay, I'm glad you liked Sloth, I always try to portray him as cute and protective, and probably a tiny bit smarter than he lets on, but not to the extent that you portray him of course ^^; Yeah, Pride's so utterly destroyed and afraid of doing anything that might be seen as disrespectful to his siblings that he shows some humility to Sloth ^_^

I would have liked to go into how Lust and Envy reacted to what happened to Pride, especially Lust since she's the one who told Father about what he'd done to Gluttony, but I don't think I'll get the chance to now, maybe as a drabble or something ;_;

Disturbing is right, I almost died trying to write that scene x_x but I'm glad it was effective. Yes, its' awful that he doesn't get his comeuppance for another half a century, but it's better than no comeuppance at all.

Smileren: Nor can I, but have some patience, like, just a decade or so to go~~

Obi-quiet: replied via PM.

Moofy-Fan:

Yay, it's great to see you not dead anymore ^^ it's fine, you were really busy so it's understandable.

Yes, we all love Sloth and Miles, and Miles was really afraid that he was finally going to 'die', since he thinks that he'll get judged for what Pride has done using his body and will get punished for it, so he's secretly really scared about Pride dying.

Yeah, Pride's really mashed up right now so he's in super pitiful mode ;_; and he's convinced himself that there isn't any point in living if Father doesn't forgive him T_T and then he just adores whenever Father pretends to be nice to him ;_;

Creeper indeed x_x yeah, writing that totally destroyed me. Trying to write it with Pride being completely oblivious at first made it even more difficult, so I'm glad it turned out the way I was going for ^^ I think Pride just wanted it to be that it was what Father wanted rather than admit that the doctor might have been taking advantage of his pitiful position, since that would make him completely not trust Goldytooth and start them on bad terms, which would provoke him into telling Father than he wasn't co-operating and that wouldn't be good. Yeah, Miles is the only reason Pride even gets an inkling that something's even wrong, while nothing like that happened to Miles when he was alive, he has more common sense and intuition than Pride has.

Lol, Ronald. That was just my reference to Ronald the Intern from The Cabin in The Woods, who is adorable ^_^

I'd like to say things are looking up for Pride from now on…but then I'd be a liar ^^;

-0

Now, I wont keep you, here's the chapter~

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Forty-Seven: Fuhrer Candidate #316**

**July 26th 1863 **

Silence had long since fallen over the large city at a little after four in the morning, and anyone with sense would have been asleep. Yet in one isolate corner of Central very few had not yet awoken. Indeed most of the inhabitants had grown used to rising at such early hours. The large building had stood complete for over ten years, that the population of Central only considered to be the third alchemic laboratory that was taking longer than expected to construct and make operational, but they would never question it. In that blank building encased in the high, equally blank stone wall, the once several hundred Fuhrer candidates had been slowly but surely been depleted until the day that the one suitable to receive Father's Wrath was found.

Number 12 didn't know this. He only knew that one of them would one day be Fuhrer. And Number 12 knew that it would be him, as they all believed with the strongest conviction possible. Briefing was designed only to reiterate that notion; every day before lessons began, the head scientist with the sliver of gold in his mouth would address them; the only thing close to a father any of them had ever possessed. He never said anything different (their intensely scheduled lives and the path laid out for them had not accustomed them to many severe changes in lifestyle and routine), only that one of them would assuredly become Fuhrer and insisting that their education was imperative for such before dismissing them for their eighteen hours of lessons.

Except today. Today, towards the end of briefing, he said something quite different.

The Doctor was smiling like always, hands clasped behind his back

"On this day, this experiment began eight years ago. However, this will be overshadowed somewhat, as I have an announcement to make, my Fuhrer candidates. I have been keeping something from you for quite some time, rather, some_one_." He clapped sharply, nodding towards two of the scientists guarding the doors that led wherever, who opened them immediately. Someone strode in through the open doors confidently, standard blank expression that they were all accustomed to producing. The boy stood at the scientist's side, looking them all over slowly. He was small-much smaller than them- and had a shock of _raven_, longer-than-efficient-hair (by Number 12'standards) falling into his eyes.

"This is Number 316. He has been educated as you have-" at the statement the boy now known to be Number 316 raised his head curiously, and the doctor returned the half glare until he lowered his head down again, face perfectly calm "-for all his life. He is the same age as all of you so has no advantage over you. He has been detained away from you for being too disruptive as an infant. He is to rejoin you from this day forward. However, this is merely a trial period. Should he continue to be a nuisance he will be disposed of immediately." Number 316's expression didn't falter; at least he seemed to be as disciplined as they were. "He will be joining Class 2 at the start of your first lesson this morning. Take a good look at him; he is another adversary that you must overcome if you wish to become Fuhrer one day. Do you have anything to say, Number 316?" The boy inched closer as he continued to scan over them, and with a slight grimace-y twitch at the corner of his mouth he bowed politely.

"It's nice to meet you all."

It was obvious the detainment had not given Number 316 any adequate time for exercise. It was first lesson, and the mandatory three hours of physical education for Class 2 seemed to be having the worst effect on him.

He was continuing his uneasy, wobbling excuse of something that was supposed to be running, legs bending awkwardly any which way while he tried to maintain his composure and confidence. The scientists didn't admonish him at all yet, watching from afar and scribbling down notes in the darkness (the sun yet to rise over the great wall that was the extent of the candidates' world). As Number 12 wasn't raised to question, he didn't think anything of it, only disgusted at the boy's pathetic state. Even now he lagged almost two laps behind even the slowest of them (weedy Number 22 as usual), breathing in loud ragged gasps through his mouth as he staggered and trailed behind them.

It was ridiculous. How could such a measly, worthless wretch even hope to survive through until evening roll call with such laziness and weakness? Even from the distance between them, Number 12 could see how pathetic he was, the bright red in his cheeks and the way he almost collapsed with every step, slowing and yet so desperately trying to keep an even, though unacceptable pace. Fifteen minutes later, with the sliver of light from the rising sun washing over him, Number 316 collapsed. The scientists walked calmly to him, and in their monotone voices told him to stand. Failing that they lifted him by an arm. His head hung listlessly down, eyes fixed on the ground. A moment passed before he stared curiously up to the one holding him, like he didn't even realise he'd fallen. He was mouthing something to them, shaking his head and trying to stand but failing immediately. The scientists dragged him off the running track and into the main facility building. For punishment no doubt. It was all he deserved for being so pathetic.

It was more than certain. Number 316 wouldn't see out the week, if he even survived to see last lesson.

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"See you in the morning, Pride. Have a nice sleep." The door clicked shut behind him, the Doctor's whisper still echoing in his ear. The loud bang that came with the door being locked soon faded, swallowed up by the darkness and the silence Pride had only known to expect in his cramped room as a Fuhrer candidate. He'd collapsed. How could he be so weak and pathetic enough to collapse? He'd been so tired though. After all, lessons began before five and didn't end until well after ten at night. It was only his first day. He'd be fine. He could function perfectly on only six hours of sleep a day…of course he could. Lighting the candle on his nightstand, Pride flicked the horrible strips of black he now knew to be 'braces' off his shoulders, slid out of his uniform, and as he reached for his nightgown he began to muse.

Number 316, that was what they'd called him. It seemed that however many children were collected from around the country, only three hundred and fifteen had been selected at a suitable age to become 'actual' candidates, the others had either died off from their weakness or had been left to die because of being so inferior, and now only seventy four of them were left:

Number 12. The only other boy Pride had seen with black hair. He was unimportant; the dark haired whelp's only purpose had been for Pride to take his desk and seating position when he was allocated one in second lesson, him being reintroduced after his shameful required rest after he was dragged away from first lesson. The instructor had informed Number 12 that he needed to keep an eye on him and having two black haired people on the front row would be inefficient. Pride had seen him glaring from his new seat at the back of the classroom. The wretch was probably jealous of him- that he wasn't 'unique' anymore or something so immature and human like that.

Number 17. Pride had seen him running ahead of the others on the track before he collapsed, sprinting past him several times as he fell further and further behind on his damaged legs. He seemed less intelligent than the others, less brilliant with knowledge beyond what his age would imply, and to many an ashamed look from their instructor when he had got a question _wrong _in mathematics that evening. He kept his head stubbornly up even in the face of his disgrace. He didn't speak after that, even through meal three and final lesson. They didn't ask him any more questions either. Someone so dull witted could never hope to embody Father's Wrath. But, Glutt…_No, he wasn't supposed to think such things, never, not ever again…_

Number 22. His unusual reddish-brown hair caused him to stand out from the other candidates. The others had a deep cold that reflected in their eyes, but not with him. They were soft, like Pride's could be when he was acting-like they were now because he hadn't truly adapted to be like them yet… He was ambitious like the others but his less cold nature would probably become his undoing. He never looked at the other candidates, like he thought they would distract him from his goal, or make him realise how different he was.

Number 40. His blond hair only caused him to blend in as the majority of boys in the facility sported the same color, being Amestrian. Number 40 seemed intrigued at the prospect of starting to use new military weapons in the New Year outside of the 'swordsmanship' Pride had seen on the timetable for Class 2. Sitting in a desk away from him, Pride hardly paid him any attention outside of his vocal knowledge of military combat and Amestrian language techniques during the day.

Number 42. He looked too much like Number 40. Maybe they were twins, or triplets and Number 41 had died. Pride hadn't seen a '41' on the Doctor's class list. His eyes were colder than Number 40's, just as serious as 40 and yet there was something beneath it; a more ferocious determination inside him.

Pride hadn't the time to notice any of the others in any great detail; he didn't care enough. They were insignificant things that didn't speak a word outside of answering questions in lessons and hardly had any thoughts of their own (which for humans was convenient, but having knowledge and not applying it- surely that would prove to be pointless in developing intelligence). Once Wrath was selected from the candidates he would know nothing of how to act properly in front of humans. Though of course, Father must have wished for Pride to assist with such things, which was why he had been sent here to monitor them in the first place, repentance aside.

Pulling his nightgown over his head Pride then reached down and tugged off his socks (grimacing as he felt the jagged line where he'd cut his drawers shorter so they could be hidden underneath his uniform) and placed them along with the rest of his clothes at the foot of the bed. He rubbed at one of his eyes irritably, staring into the soft flickering light of the candle. He would be exhausted if he didn't sleep soon, but too much had happened today for him to simply sleep on. Witnessing the candidates and their un-childlike behaviour (even though he was in essence the same) in such volume disturbed him a tad. Their callous nature was obvious enough and the scientists encouraged their competition in every way they could. Dopey Number 22 had been given porridge for meal one like all of them, but none of the animal meat for meal two or three that Pride had been given, like an incentive to work hard. Having never eaten flesh of an animal through his container he found it intriguing enough, with an agreeable taste that probably appealed to his sadistic side that had been deprived for so long. The others, Number 105, 61, 310, all of those in his class excepting Number 22, they didn't think he deserved it given his shameful behaviour that morning, especially Number 12.

With another frown Pride shuffled underneath his covers, the excuse of a mattress was lumpy and uncomfortable, even worse than if he was sleeping on the floor (but sleeping on the floor was always fine and could never be anything but…), but he was too tired to think that it would stop him sleeping. Feeling under his pillow for that insolent scientist's pistol, Pride blew the lonely candle on his nightstand out with a half yawn-half sigh, flipping his pillow and nuzzling into the cool underside.

It was fine, even if it was so different here, even if he was being fed more than he ever needed to everyday, if he needed to trudge through eighteen hours of lessons a day and only get six hours sleep a night, he'd adapt. He would adapt soon enough and then Father would realise that he'd never misbehave again.

Of course he would. How hard could it be?

0 * 0 * 0

**August 27th 1863**

Number 22 found Number 316 to be a curious fellow, though the doctor had assured them his being raised privately would not give him any advantage over them ability-wise, it seemed to do the opposite. His weak, feeble frame caused him to fail in almost every physical field, though he had been improving at a horrendous rate. As hard as he tried to be attentive and focused in his lessons, he seemed distracted somewhat (never had Number 22 seen someone turn around in his seat to see those sitting behind them so much), a certain clouding in his violet eyes that conveyed a constant unsettlement despite himself. Perhaps his life in isolation had made him far too cautious of his new surroundings. Such apprehension was foolish; one who would become Fuhrer should not possess such an unfounded anxiety.

This agitation did not seem to afflict him once they were given their monthly examination. This month's area of the exam was history and geography, he seemed so confident in his own abilities than anything he had demonstrated before. Knowing better than to focus on his rivals in becoming Fuhrer, Number 22 looked over his exam questions:

_Examination for August 1863: Amestrian History, 15 minutes_

_1. Name events connected with the following dates: 1503 1623 1730 1732 1799 _

_2 .Relate the causes and results of the Southern Border Conflict. _

_3 .Tell what you can of the History of Central City. _

_4 .Describe the two prominent battles of the invasion of Riviere. _

_5 . Give an account of the founding of Amestris._

_Examination for August 1863: Geography, 15 minutes_

_1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend? What is the Climate of Amestris? _

_2. How do you account for the extreme temperatures at Mt. Briggs?_

_3. Describe the purpose of the moon and its effect on the oceans._

_4. Name all the countries sharing a land border with Amestris and their capital cities_

_5. Describe how the Amestrian/Drachman mountain range was formed. _

Simple enough questions; questions they had been asked in one form or another countless times. Even the most average of candidates knew the answers without a moment of hesitation. But would Number 316? The Doctor had said that he was educated exactly as they were, so surely he would be fine. But it wasn't his place to wonder about his competition in his goal to become Fuhrer; he answered the questions in his neatest and most efficient writing as he was expected to.

0 * 0 * 0

Pride was rather pleased with himself. For his first examination at the facility he was expecting something much worse. It didn't really matter if he hadn't paid his utmost attention in answering (it _was _only ten minutes to five and the test was already over). The scientists knew about him, so they wouldn't accurately mark his test and lose grace with the Doctor, and through that Father, they respected him too much for that. The lesson continued on for another twenty minutes or so, before another scientist stepped into the classroom and handed the marked answer papers to the instructor.

"Number 12: 95%." There was a quiet shuffle of paper as Number 12 received his test result. "Number 17: 90%. You should try harder." Pride turned where none of the others had to see Number 17's reaction, Pride could see that the other candidates had turned their noses up in disgust at the 'low' percentage, but bottled it up, but 17 felt their disdain anyway and glanced away as he caught Pride looking. "Number 22: 98%." The instructor carried on like this, and Pride rested his head on his hands patiently until his own allocated number was called. "Number 40: 98%. Number 42: 100%. Number 57: 98%. Number 61: 93%. Number 105: 95%. Number 216: 100%. Number 263: 98%. Number 271: 93%. Number 310: 95%."

Under the painfully bright electric lights of the classroom Pride felt rather relieved when he was bathed in the grey of the instructor's shadow, and squinted up at him, though too drowsy to form any expression. "Number 316: 30%." Audible gasps, tangible glares directed only at him as the word echoed in its own taunting way in his ear. That couldn't be right. Why had they treated them like any ordinary candidate? Didn't they know who he was? "This is unacceptable, 316; you will go to the Doctor to receive your punishment immediately." He didn't bother to argue and show himself up, only nodding sadly. He didn't need to learn anything of history or geography anyway. The candidates probably wouldn't have another exam in it until after he had left. They were all staring at him, accusing and disgusted, but there was… something else there too. Did they pity him for needing to be punished? Or just because it involved the eccentric alchemist? A thought occurred to Pride. Did the doctor…did he examine all the candidates the same way? Is that why they pitied him? Did they think that he would…? No, he mustn't think about something like that. Pride only rebuffed their peculiar kind of sympathy and walked towards the Doctor's room without a word, test paper in hand so he could find out why he had such a shameful result in the first place.

"My, 316, I didn't expect to see you so soon after briefing." Same old gold-toothed grin from across the room.

"You can expect such things from now on if you insist on having your underlings treat me with such disrespect as to not fake my test results."

The Doctor motioned for him to sit down at his desk. "I do not see why we should treat you any different in that field. Though you are only here on observation, you must be treated the same as them to prevent them becoming suspicious of you; Staying in the dormitories and bathing with them excepted, of course."

"Surely having such different test results to the others will only _make_ them suspicious of me."

"And who is at fault by being too tired to answer them effectively? Or is it that you simply lack the intelligence to answer the questions?" Pride scowled, his growing hate for the alchemist flaring in the space where his Stone would have been had it not insisted on hiding. "You do not seem to settling in as well as I had hoped."

"I'm settling well enough."

"I would like to believe that. Come; let me see what you wrote." Pride slipped the piece of paper onto the desk. He'd looked over his answers and shamefully admitted to himself that he knew far less about history and geography as he would have desired, having only learned of such from Father rather than books. "This is rather disappointing Pride, you of such age and wisdom and yet you don't even know half of the first question? 1503?"

"That's when Amestris was founded, by Father."

"Of course, that was one you answered correctly.1623?" The Doctor huffed as Pride didn't even attempt to answer "The abdication of Prince Lawrence from the Amestrian royal family when he married the divorcee Blanche Sutcliffe. You were alive then so you have no excuse for knowing so little about your Father's precious country. 1730, surely? You were there, Pride, you caused it. Why didn't you write anything?" Still Pride didn't feel there was any point in replying. "1732- the formation of the military state under Fuhrer Aloysius Armstrong. And you got 1799 correct, the 'Soapman incident'. Everything else? You seem equally lacking in both historical and geographical knowledge expected here in this facility, as well as by your Father outside of it. Until the end of your lesson I will see to it personally that you become more learned in these subjects. Please follow me."

The room the doctor led him to was something of a library, most likely where all the instructors gathered their information for lessons and whatnot. There was a small lamp in the middle of the room atop a desk. "Take a seat." There was only one chair available and Pride sat on it without a word, watching as the doctor collected several rolled up scrolls from a bookshelf and tucked them under his arm. Unrolling one Pride saw it to be some sort of ancient, yellow map but before he could examine it properly he was being lifted by the Doctor again, and then he was sitting on his lap.

"Amestris has changed a great deal since it was founded. This collection of Amestrian maps will provide you with insight into geography." Pride couldn't help but be fascinated by them, particularly the dots that represented towns of the past- towns he would never be able to go or see either through the fact that the town had been destroyed or the fact that they existed outside of his barrier. Though, if his barrier could be extended further depending on his age, maybe one day-long after the Promised Day had passed-he might be able to travel far enough to visit such places. Through the different maps Pride could monitor the development of Amestris's rival countries: Drachma, Creta, and Aerugo- how they had changed and fought between themselves over land. The Doctor's hands, which were holding him in place around his waist, slipped into the opening of his shirt-

"I…it's time for lesson two, i-i-isn't it?" Pride tried to block it out, shifting away and holding his breath so the doctor couldn't reach. "I'm ok now. I understand and I'll try harder." _Stop it stop it stop it right now! _It wasn't even the voice this time. Pride's senses had adjusted to the sensation, and _despised_ it, making him cringe and squirm with pinking cheeks.

"Hm. Well, whenever you fail to achieve the same as the others, you shall be brought here to learn instead. Do _you_ understand?" Pride nodded. Yes, yes, he understood. It was a veiled threat. Father must have told him to keep humiliating him if he didn't fit in with the others. Father wanted him to be perfect while on this covert observation. He almost threw himself from the chair, nodding again just to make himself perfectly clear.

"You may leave now, Number 316," he called him by his number. Pride had no problem with the other candidates having numbers for names. He had a noun for a name so he saw nothing unusual with it, but the Doctor calling him by his number meant that he was asserting his superiority over him, which was… "I'd rather I didn't see you again outside your classroom, but I'd be happy to let you study here should you be sent out for your 'punishment'."

Next lesson was Amestrian. Amestrian was an easy subject, and he'd never have to be in this room again for something like that. Not saying a word, Pride inched out of the room, hoping with every fibre of his being that he'd never need to spend another moment alone with the gold toothed human again.

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**October 31st 1863**

Three months. Three months was long enough, surely.

Pride wandered along the underground corridors, passing the room where he'd been examined, shivering a little as he did. It didn't matter; at least he'd never have to see the room again. The Doctor had given him the courtesy of letting him leave alone, even if he'd rushed him when Pride had asked to leave, only handing him his nightgown and sending him on his way after last lesson.

He'd been walking for some time, he must have been close now, he hadn't walked the wrong way. Pride hoped Father would accept his repentance, he had monitored the candidates just like he was instructed, he had done nothing to warrant anything but forgiveness. But if Father didn't forgive him then…

There was something in the way, something large and completely filling the corridor. _Oh._

Pride stopped, looking up with a scowl "What are you doing here, Sloth? You should be digging the tunnel for Father. Surely you can dig without me supervising you. I'm doing important business for Father, so-"

"HELLO, PRIDE." Pride tsked at the realization that he'd need to waste time with pleasantries in order to get Sloth to talk any sense

"Hello, Sloth. Now, _why _are you here?" Pride's lazy, lumbering sibling slouched a little, blinking his tiny white eyes.

"FATHER SENT ME HERE. AFTER YOU LEFT." Father did? But…

"Why would Father keep you here for so long?" It didn't make any sense, the tunnel was the most important part of Father's plan, if he had sent Sloth away from his duties to come here then it must have been something of the utmost importance.

"SAID THAT…YOU WOULD COME BACK TOO SOON. MADE ME COME HERE…TO STOP YOU COMING BACK." Pride blanched. That couldn't be right, did Father not trust him? Of course not, Father trusted him enough to let him monitor his potential Wraths. As Pride began to walk by Sloth to ask Father what he was talking about Sloth's hand pushed him away, gently so that he didn't fall over, like it was the only thing he was capable of. Pride flinched, dropping his nightgown.

"DON'T. FATHER…" There was something so serious and sincere in Sloth's eyes, Pride didn't even know how such blank, expressionless eyes could convey such an emotion "WILL KILL YOU, PRIDE." Sloth wasn't smart enough to be anything but blunt, and Pride shuddered at the very word. "GO NOW, PRIDE. IF FATHER KNOWS YOU'RE HERE…" His sharp little teeth curved into a frown, only nudging him further back.

Sloth hunched further, gripping his nightgown between his fingers, and his frown never wavering he handed back to him. "WON'T TELL FATHER I SAW YOU" Pride accepted it silently, nodding, holding his nightgown close to his chest. Had it not been long enough? Fine, it was fine. Father would decide when he was allowed to return. How could he be so stupid, thinking that he could return home whenever he wished? A finger brushed against his cheek, Sloth trying to wipe something away, but of course he wasn't crying, how absurd a thought. "SEE YOU, PRIDE." There was only one thing he could do now, he needed to go back, go back and see out the rest of his observations until Father decided he had done enough.

"Goodbye, Sloth. I won't come back without permission. I won't disappoint Father again." Still hugging onto his nightgown for dear life, the only thing he had to remind him of before he fell from Father's grace, Pride turned on his heels, and trudged back to the facility without another word.

0 * 0 * 0

**November 11th 1863**

"You may begin, Number 12, Number 61." Pride didn't blink as they began crossing swords, watching as they slashed and cut through the air effortlessly in their attempts to strike the other. They were never to intentionally wish harm on the other during their 'duels'. The smallest bit of clothing damage would suffice in securing a victory, and Pride had regrettably yet to see even a puddle of blood spilled as a result of their swordsmanship lessons. Pride had to admit he was interested in it. Of all human weapons, guns were pointless things; of what purpose was it to not indulge in the fact that they were taking someone's life. If you weren't going to enjoy it why bother at all? Swords were different, Pride assumed, being connected to the person you were killing you would be able to feel them die, like he often could through his shadows. That might have fed his affinity as well; swords could function in a similar way to his shadows, could slice and cut through flesh with ease, which was an appealing enough idea. Why humans insisted on developing new ways of killing others when the perfect weapon had already been created hundreds of years before was beyond him.

Though he had yet to fully adapt to his temporary life as a Fuhrer candidate, the scientists had began to adapt around him. In his inadequacy in physical aspects they didn't ask him to partake in any duels, which, while being for the best, left him with nothing more to do than to watch the others in his class in their four or so pairs fight in their mock attempts to kill each other.

As he watched Number 12 begin to get the upper hand in the duel Pride tried to lift his sword in his boredom, feeling the shadows in his hand and arm begin to pull and struggle and ultimately fail. Candidates were only permitted to use one hand while dueling, while he could barely lift it with both hands. Being so much taller than him the size of sword didn't bother them, while the sword which was the standard for all of them was almost half his height, which even weight aside would make it cumbersome to wield even if he could lift it. Pride had considered utilising his shadow's strength to assist him, but such would only make them damage his container's skin and require him to regenerate unnoticed. It might be useful when imperative, but on such trivial things it would just be a waste of souls.

A groan eased Pride out from his musings, Number 12 on the ground, 61 standing over his, sword to his throat.

"Good, Number 61." The scientist's completely neutral tone reaching the candidate he stepped away, waiting for Number 12 to stand up by himself. Number 12 must have not been focused if he managed to lose so suddenly. Pride smirked as he glanced and caught Number 12 scowling at the fact that he'd lost, poor immature Number 12, being so angry that he'd managed to lose due to his own idiocy. Whether he learned from his mistake or continued to be a jealous, petulant child would depend on whether he had any potential at all.

Judging from Number 12's behaviour thus far, Pride severely doubted it

0 * 0 * 0

**February 7th 1864**

Pride didn't understand Military Combat in the slightest. It was a very sporadic subject that jumped from one human method of killing to communicating in cunning ways help allies kill easier and back without reason.

"Today you will be taught how to read and send messages via Morse code. It was developed by artist Samuel Morse in 1830, who first attained fame through his painting of a dying Xerxian hero of myth. Morse code has become increasingly important to the military in recent years for communication between locations." There was a series of dots and lines on the blackboard, each in line with a letter of the alphabet:

. – A

– . . . B

– . – . C

– . . D

. E

. . – . F

– – . G

Pride noticed quickly that more commonly used letters received simpler codes.

"Now, you will first write messages down, convert them into Morse code and form them with the individual telegraph keys on your desks. You may begin." Pride examined the strange key on the desk, it was naught but a piece of brass with wires leading to little boxes that produced the sound. Pride experimentally dabbed at the handle and pushed it down, cringing at the high pitched shriek that came out of the box, letting go immediately. Hard as he tried he couldn't understand or figure out the rhythm or timing he was supposed to use. And there was everyone else succeeding without incident, already writing down messages on their strips of slate (paper was too good for them outside examinations) and tapping them out as the correct dots and dashes with a series of high pitched sounds effortlessly. Number 57 to his right, like all the others, had figured it out easily enough. Number 310 to his left seemed less confident, but could still form his most simple messages without a murmur of confusion. And to his left, Number 216, who looked similar to Number 22, was the same, while only he was failing. He who didn't fit in with them, who couldn't learn as they could. He may have not wished to be the same as them, being the homunculus he was, but they didn't know that. How could he have not adapted to living here after almost seven months…?

Pride turned in his seat to observe the actual Number 22, who was happily tapping and holding the key down with ease. It was the most positive emotion Pride had seen in any of the candidates thus far. Such a natural affinity he had for it, so soon after learning about it…

Such a dark and twisted thought formed inside him as he observed him with naught but his usual emotionless expression. Maybe it was a slight shameful to even consider it, disrespectful almost. Pride realised that his eyes had widened at the idea, and blinked quickly to avoid drawing attention to himself. With a put on sigh, Pride set his head down in front of the box, pushing the piece of slate and key away in mock defeat at being unable to understand the strange new device. But he grinned nonetheless, settling for his smirk and biting back his most childish yet cruel giggle.

He knew _exactly _what he was going to do.

0 * 0 * 0

**March 25th 1864**

Number 22 was surprised Number 316 had survived this long and wasn't sure whether he should be happy or not. 316 was a failure by all accounts, but that meant he was no threat to his chances of becoming Fuhrer, so if he was tenacious and survived while all of those better than him died it would be for the best (but it wasn't right to compare himself to others, they would only distract him, making him question his own abilities and become too paranoid to achieve what he knew he could).

Number 22 walked at a brisk pace in time with the rest of Class 2 along the corridor that led outside to the training grounds. Their timetable hardly ever changed. Friday after meal two they always practised swordsmanship. Now wasn't an exception. Why would it be? 316 hadn't eaten at all for the last few days, refusing all his meals and claiming to be bloated from 'eating too much'. He was looking rather worse for wear. The black bags under his eyes that had formed in the first few weeks from lack of sleep had degenerated into permanent grey stains. His pale skin had darkened into a more healthy peach during the summer but was washing back out from winter. Even then he was still tenaciously clinging to existence and the feeble belief that he might live long enough to see out of the end of the process. It was a wonder the scientists simply hadn't disposed of him for being incompetent and wasting time they could have spent on pushing the more ambitious candidates.

"The first duel will be between Candidates 40 and 42." Number 22 thought as much, between all of the candidates it was the most obvious choice if he were to believe that the scientists didn't choose the pairs at random. Their rivalry was not something to be taken lightly. They liked to think that no one noticed it, but even to someone like him, who never paid attention to the others, it was obvious. Number 22 caught sight of the scientist with a square of gold for a tooth overseeing their lesson from afar. He thought it strange that he would choose to view this lesson in particular for no apparent reason, but the thought of questioning it didn't cross his mind. They all watched in silence as 40 and 42 clashed in their own mental war, so firmly believing that this one duel would affect the outcome of the rest of their lives (which it _wouldn't, _22 thought, as _he _would be Fuhrer which would require both of them to be removed from the playing field sooner rather than later). With a final swipe Number 42 knocked the sword from 40's hand, though he hardly reacted to it at all, like he expected to win from the very beginning.

"Good, Number 42. Now, Number 316." The peculiar boy blinked in confusion at being told to duel. He never dueled. Even so he bowed after a moment and stepped forward, dragging his sword along the ground behind him immaturely- the standard sword that everyone used despite him being far shorter than them. "And Number 22." Him? But if he defeated 316 then he might finally be disposed of, which would… Then again, it was easier to simply prove he was better than the others rather than rely on their incompetence to imply his superiority, so he didn't object in the least.

Number 316 stared up at him, he wasn't that much shorter than him, but enough that he needed to raise his head. "It's going to be fun finally fighting with you, Number 22." _'Fun'?_ How childish could 316 be, using such disrespectful language to describe their lessons?

"Begin." Number 316 tensed up, weakly trying to lift his sword one handed before 22 reached him, and failing that ran away and pulling it along. Atrophied as his legs used to be (and still looked in 22's opinion), he was faster on his feet in short bursts than he'd ever shown, as if he could only fully utilize it when he was forced. Still, Number 22 only needed a cut, the tiniest slice through cloth and he would win like he was supposed to. With that in mind, he continued to swipe at the fleet footed candidate as he closed the gap between them. It was a miracle he was so lively. Actually, given how often he was sent away to be punished it was extraordinary he could even function. There must have been dozens of bruises, scars even, dotted along under his uniform. 22 had been spared the punishment in the face of someone even more pathetic than he, but of course he'd never admit that he appreciated 316 in any way, whether for his own gains or not.

_Swipe. Swipe._ The blades finally connected with a _clang_ as Number 316 fell over and raised the sword just enough to shield himself as he crawled off to pick himself up. No matter where he chose to strike, he fell short. Why was this so difficult? It was like 316 wasn't even trying...or was teasing him. _Oh, _of course. Number 22 had only ever fought with those taller than him. He was aiming _too_ _high. _The logical thought came too late, and he had resorted to forcing all his weight into each swing in the most undignified manner, and on this swing Number 316 stumbled, but he didn't go down. Instead he bent his legs to keep himself standing, poised differently this time, more determined somehow…

He lingered on his next move for a moment too long, and Number 22 only had the split second to see Number 316 tighten his grip on his sword with two hands, take his opportunity and lunge forward…

Something was numb and cold in his side. 22 didn't understand. He glanced down.

316's sword had been buried in him. He could feel it sticking out the other side as a bright red stain formed over his uniform

"316…" Number 22 managed to gasp out. The timid, irresponsible useless candidate met his gaze, and pulled the sword out _through his side _with far more strength than he should have had, cutting through his brace. His shirt's scarlet stain set alight, until all his abdomen was on fire. As he watched, a damp stickiness spread underneath it and along him before pouring onto the floor.

"Well done, 316. Take Number 22 to the doctor so he doesn't bleed out. We wouldn't want that." It was the head scientist that spoke this time. Number 22 was too preoccupied with the pain and the blood- _his _blood- to wonder why he needed to go to the doctor when the head scientist _was _a doctor, but he knew that all too well; he'd prefer the other doctor more than anything.

The next thing he knew he was being dragged along the floor, a small clean uniform with a blob of black at the top being the thing dragging him

"Number 12?" he stopped moving.

"No. Don't mistake me for someone like him." That was Number 316's voice. Why was he dragging him? 316 was taking him to the doctor, right? Gritting his teeth and trying to ignore the pain, Number 22 pushed himself up enough to sit. "When you fainted I thought maybe you were dead, which would have made this whole thing pointless, so I'm glad you're still alive." 316 threw the torn brace he was dragging him by to the ground. "Do you think that, if you'd grown up, you would have become Fuhrer one day?" He was grinning an unimaginably large grin, holding out his hand to help him up but it was drenched in an insensitivity Number 22 didn't think 316 could even comprehend.

As he stretched out his hand, something wrapped around it from the ceiling, pulling him to the wall with a thud.

"I thought candidates were taught to trust no one outside their superiors? You aren't thinking straight, must have lost too much blood already, what a shame." His voice was so frigid now. "Though keeping my shadows out for too long will be taxing, so I won't waste too much time on you." Number 22 could see now. The thin strip of black and white trailing behind where he had been dragged, soaking up his blood. The ones around his wrists tightened with each word.

"You will be dying soon, but I would suggest that you be human and try to survive until, well…." Several black _thing_s grew and rose up from beneath his feet, shivering with anticipation, but 316 shook his head and waved them away. Instead he focused on the little cubes of white, moving them until they settled underneath him, opening them wider-they were teeth? !

Number 22 couldn't think anymore. None of this made any sense, and despite being raised to not question, he had so many running through his head that he had no method of phrasing or forming them, and he doubted that the black haired boy would answer him truthfully. He had deceived them all about his very nature so thoroughly.

"The Doctor will not scold me for disposing of you. He knows you had no potential to become Fuhrer. Such a useless, weak-willed child you are. You pitied me and thought that I was even more pathetic than you, which made you feel better about yourself." Slowly he opened the mouth in the floor wider, lowering him down and closer to it. The teeth clamped around his ankles, biting enough to start another steady flow of blood streaming from him. The mouth curved into a smile around them, staining the teeth with crimson blotches. When he didn't scream the boy only scowled, lowering him a fraction more and biting again...and again...and again until his legs were nothing but segmented circles attached to bone. The thought of how he was still alive drifted though his mind once, some time before, while 316 was snickering at how pathetic it was that even now he refused to plead or beg or cry. Now that he had resigned to the humiliation a few tears and more than several quiet whimpers had escaped him from the pain of his legs being mutilated and half devoured. He had become determined to wring every last pitiful action from him it seemed. Number 22 didn't give him the satisfaction. He'd become too weak to shriek or scream anymore, hardly able to see and only feeling more and more of himself pressed between the shadow's teeth- more gently now, because Number 316 still wanted him alive for whatever reason.

When the shadow reached the top of his knees it halted, Number 316 padding forward with his fake soft eyes and kneeling in front of him. "Are you afraid to die, Number 22?" He hadn't the strength to even reply. "I've wasted enough time with you now, but just killing you would be wasteful, wouldn't it?" Like there _was _an alternative. He wouldn't survive now even if he actually reached the doctor. "…I think that would be the best for everyone. Oh, you weren't listening? That's a shame." Number 316 smiled his most innocent smile, the same smile he bore when he had introduced himself in briefing those nine months ago. "Well, I'm sure the voice will explain things; I know it's still there." The strips of black around his wrists dispersed into nothing, he was falling.

"Bye-bye, Number 22."

The echo of his voice died away, and there was nothing but screaming after that.

0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0

I'd like to thank Obi-quiet for beta-ing most of this chapter for me, she puts up with me and my comma addiction too much, so now she's trying to stop me ^^;

Whee~ Fuhrer candidates~ I was so stupid I made up all the numbers myself instead of using a number generator ^^; I had to make everyone's timetables as well to make sure Pride would have the lessons on the days he says (i.e, 25th March 1864 was a Friday, so class 2 need to have swordsmanship on a Friday fourth lesson. There's 6 classes and they have the six lessons a day, split into classes of 12, 12(though 13 because of Pride), 12, 12, 13, 13) as well as to keep myself from getting confused, as well as having to arrange the others into classes ^^;

Yay for cameo by number 17 there, shame he has to get used up in Goldy-tooth's teleportation transmutation circle on the promised day ;_;

You can find my very lazy chart for which candidate is which and the seating plan for Class 2 here: i /albums/ k532/A2DtheCBZ

(why does 61 get away with not wearing his braces?)

Poor number 22, but he needed to die, Pride didn't think he'd be able to take down any of the others so he was the only option, and he only did it so he'd learn Morse code and be better at his lessons so he wouldn't have to study with Goldtooth ever again ;_;

Well, hope you all liked this chapter, and I'll be seeing you…well I definitely can't get chapter 48 out in a week…or can I ;)


	48. A Cure for Homesickness

A/N: sorry I missed a week, coursework's been killing me D:

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-Fan:

Yay, I'm glad you liked the Fuhrer candidates, and felt bad for 22, I felt bad for killing him too, but Pride needed the morse code and stuff so he wouldn't get sent out again D: Yay, Sloth ^_^ I'm glad he could get another cameo in there ^_^ Yes…Gold tooth, a creeper he is…END OF DISCUSSION XD

Anne camp:

Aww, that's nice then, I don't need to be super super paranoid now ^^; well, I did say that I had another scene in mind that I wanted to write ^_^ Of course I like Sloth, u no like Sloth?

Velgamidragon:

Sorry I couldn't be more obvious about it, I didn't want it to be dead exposition-y with Pride just up and telling 22 what he was eating him for.

-0

More adventures of Pride's time in the facility begins NOW.

0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0

**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Forty-Eight: A Cure for Homesickness**

**April 6****th**** 1864**

A shot. A simple, single shot, and yet Pride clamped his hands over his ears and winced, blushing as he heard his barely raised rifle hit the floor and disturb the dust of the training yard. He'd heard it far too many times now, but he still wasn't used to it, he didn't think he ever would be. The marksmanship instructor glared at him from across the yard, but Pride didn't bother with the falsities of pretending to be sorry for dropping his rifle at all, glaring back as he crouched to pick it up. If anything it was something the _instructor_ should have been used to instead.

"Not good enough, Number 12." From his place at the back of the line Pride couldn't see where Number 12 had hit, if he'd hit anything at all. With his usual blank expression 12 lifted his rifle up and trudged along to Pride, scowling at him as he went. Number 17 had walked up and shot at his target before Pride could even react; only flinching again at the noise.

"Satisfactory as usual, Number 17." As if anything else could be expected from someone like 17. If that was 17, then next would be—

Oh, right. A sigh, nothing but a weak, meaningless little sigh, but a sigh nonetheless. Of course Number 22 wouldn't be next. Often Pride used to sit in his seat, or during physical lessons stand idly about to amusedly watch 22's antics, their eyes sometimes meeting as the instructor ignored them for the most part. Through his quiet optimism and boundless determination Pride had never realised what should have been all too obvious. What was all too obvious now. They were just blurry things, things 22 had kept hidden somewhere inside him, probably without realising it either, but they drove him to strive, ceaselessly do all he could to achieve his best academically if he could not physically. Quick flashes of things, blood, the Doctor's laughter, the screaming that 22 had denied him, would distract him at random, though more so when he was in his daze, musing. Sometimes he only heard it, as he scribbled notes onto his piece of slate during class, a low, pitiable sobbing in his head, then a shrieking, only the one. He knew they were only memories that Number 22 had tried to forget, only resurfacing as he slowly lost his mind as he should. Pride was far too grateful that the memories were muddled and unclear; he didn't want to see whatever the Doctor had done to 22 as punishment for his inadequacy, what had caused him to be the timid, anxious little thing he was, what the Doctor was fighting tooth and nail to be able to do to _him _one day, that which Pride was fighting with equal tenacity to avoid. Pride was sure of that. The Doctor hadn't punished him at all for killing Number 22, which was a relief to say the least, and now almost two weeks since the 'unfortunate accident' that led to his demise it was naught but a memory.

_Oh, you ate him? How peculiar you are Pride. I liked Number 22; he was a bright lad, if a tad vulnerable._

_You like _vulnerable_, don't you?_

…_His possibility of becoming Fuhrer was minimal, so I will not tell your Father of what you have done. I wonder how you managed to eat him… did you use those 'shadows' of yours? Won't you show them to me, Priiide? _

_I don't see why you would need to see them. Using them would be most conspicuous, which would jeapordise my position here._

_But we're all alone, Pride, surely you could simply—_

"Number 316." Pride blinked himself back into focus, drowning the faded memories of 22's screams out. Number 310 passed him with a little frown "_Now, _316." More forceful this time, and Pride felt himself being pushed forward, only Number 12's disgusted glower meeting him as he turned around. Number 12 had the audacity to glower at _him_? When _he_ was as much a failure at marksmanship even though he was trying? Pride returned the glare wholeheartedly as he shuffled away enough to keep his footing, and made his way into the marked square. He dragged his rifle along the ground as he went; it wasn't worth the effort to lift until it was absolutely necessary. This only being their fifth lesson in marksmanship Pride couldn't rely on any of 22's skills to aid him in performing his lessons to an acceptable degree since he'd ever had them. There was no hope of such a thing happening now. Number 12's lack of skill in marksmanship was useful somewhat, without Number 12 Pride would be clearly the worst in Class 2, and that would warrant 'punishment', which was _not_ a motivation he needed with Number 22's memories pestering him. Pride stood in the centre of the square awkwardly, raising his rifle high enough for him to try to aim it at the target as best he could. Closing one eye he lined it up properly, squeezing at the trigger gently.

The _bang _was unbearably loud, leaving his ears ringing immediately after. The rifle recoiled, and the butt smashed into his nose and sliding off into his eye. He couldn't regenerate, they'd see, and it would endanger the whole process if he was found out. Father would be so disappointed in him. If he didn't regenerate they'd be suspicious when he didn't bruise or—but bruising meant he was hurt, maybe they'd think his nose was broken (perish the thought) and that would mean a visit to the—_oh no._

"I'm fine!" Pride called to the instructor as he shakily pushed himself to his feet, covering his face with one hand and half holding the rifle in the other "F-fine…I'm fine…" Pride murmured it continuously as he scurried to the back of the line, keeping his head down.

"Holding the rifle _properly _next time will be useful, Number 316." Another ashamed blush spread over his cheeks as the others stared at him. It didn't matter, marksmanship wasn't important. Guns and rifles and the rest of it were inferior and useless. It didn't matter if he'd never improve upon it, Pride didn't _want _to improve on it. He would never have a use for it outside this facility, he'd just put up with it like he should.

He was going to be just _fine._

0 * 0 * 0

**June 20th 1864**

"Number 316, what is an important factor to consider as Fuhrer about the general populace?" the quiet but stern voice of the instructor (he regarded them all as the same person since he didn't care about them enough to try and distinguish them) dragged Pride out of his usual daze. He'd been sitting up, trying to be attentive as he could have been after the _wonderful _three hours of running first lesson, but sometime after the first hour he dozed off, with his eyes open it seemed given the twinge in them as he blinked awake.

"Oh. I…" Pride faltered, he could feel them staring at him, scrutinizing him for not knowing. He couldn't risk failing in this subject too, he _wasn't _going to visit the Doctor again. He just needed a few more seconds to think until-He shuddered as his stolen knowledge from Number 22 finally reached him again, it still yet to completely integrate itself with the rest of what he knew, completely fading when he wasn't fully focused on it. "I-I mean, when ruling the country the citizens, the general populace are of little importance. While a high morale in the population is beneficial for enforcing the view that the government always the nation's best interests at heart, it is not required, given that the government is capable of corrupting anyone of importance with ease. Therefore, the opinions of the people should not be a high priority when acting as Fuhrer of this country." Pride knew enough about how Father manipulated humans to understand that it was all common sense, but the fact that the candidates were taught the same thing perplexed him. Perhaps being taught it as if they were the most important person in the world would keep them in their little bubble of superiority, which would be useful in making sure they all tried their utmost in becoming Fuhrer.

"Adequate, though I expect no hesitation next time, 316." Pride set his head down. There, they wouldn't ask him anymore questions now that they'd insisted on including him in the lesson, probably on the Doctor's orders just to spite him. The Doctor seemed to like irritating him as of late. A month had passed since his birthday, though Pride didn't mind spending his birthday in this place, and while he hadn't told the Doctor about it he knew anyway, wishing him a 'happy birthday' and giving him extra portions at meal time just so the other candidates would glare at him even more when he refused them.

Pride's thoughts petered out into nothing, and he considered his place at the facility. He was doing satisfactory enough with the knowledge Number 22 provided him, especially in Military combat and Morse code, though they had finished that subject a few weeks ago and Pride knew they'd not touch upon it again during his stay here. Still, he'd been here almost a year, Father would surely ask for him to come home soon, wouldn't he? He'd gathered enough information about the candidates; they were hard working, and after another decade or so of training one of them might excel enough to be given Father's Wrath. Even thinking about it- he hadn't seen Father or Lust or any of the others in over a year, it wasn't that he actually cared about any of them but Father, but even so, being in this place for so long, surrounded by nothing but _humans _for so long was…

Pride lumbered through the rest of the day in silence.

Later, when he was being escorted to his room by the Doctor as the other candidates took their post-evening-roll-call-shower Pride let himself sigh, the desperate longing ever-present, and it had only grown over the day, blistering and scabbing over slowly but each new pathetic thought tore it open again. The Doctor could probably see there was something wrong with him, but didn't mention it, only grinning like usual. Without so much as a 'goodnight' (like he'd even _want _one from someone like him) he shoved him in the room and slammed the door behind him.

In his far too regular routine Pride lit the candle and dressed into his nightgown (the only thing that still tied him to his life outside the facility). He left his clothes in a pile on the floor, they'd be fine, and the floor wasn't dusty enough for it to matter. He slipped under the covers silently. Despite himself he began to drift into his persistent thoughts of home. Pride wondered what it would be like to return home after so long. It would be so strange, but magnificent at the same time, and Father would forgive him for everything and then he could forget all about the time he'd spent at this place, time would pass and he'd teach his new sibling how to be a real homunculus just like Father wanted. Father would…

Father would…

Father who he'd been away from for almost a year…

Father who he'd not seen even the slightest glance of because Father didn't _want_ to see him…

There was sharp pain somewhere in his head, then a shifting down his container, seeping out through his skin. The slightly rounded tip of his shadow poked out from the thin cover, its teeth pulled downwards into a dejected frown. It nuzzled into his cheek gently, trying so hard to comfort him, what used to be its only purpose. Accepting his shadow's affection, however shameful it was that he was having such pitiful emotions, Pride wrapped his arms around it and pulled it close, feeling the way it shivered along with his loneliness, of course it would be just as lonely as he was, it was just him after all. Alone, even now he was alone. The shadow trembled again at the thought, pushing itself closer. Maybe alone was better in a place like this, he could last however long it took until Father was satisfied with his repentance and everything would go back to normal. He just had to be patient for a while longer. The shadow shifted, slithering up to brush underneath his eye, wiping something. A tear? How absurd, he couldn't be so weak as to actually…

Another wet droplet slid down his cheek. The shadow wiped it away again.

Pride buried his head into the shadow to stop any more shameful tears escaping him, his container shaking through his feeble sobbing. He admitted it to himself, he missed Father, of course he did, how could he not? He'd settle for anything, a glimpse, even an imagined one, he just needed to… no, he'd endure, he wouldn't give in so easily, he couldn't. Father would be ashamed of him for thinking about such childish nonsense.

The shadow held him until it faded away as Pride fell into a thankfully peaceful sleep.

0 * 0 * 0

**September 4th 1864**

_Here again. _

_His yearning and despair had manifested positively at first. Dreams of returning home again filling his mind and blossoming into the only thing keeping him sane. Wonderful thoughts of returning to Father, who would actually smile and say how much he loved him and would forgive him completely for his behaviour. But they began to rot, his usual pessimism infecting them, twisting them into the complete opposite until his dreams consisted of nothing but the alternative._

_Much like those years ago when nightmares plagued him Pride realised very quickly that it was naught but a dream and of no harm to him. But even so he shivered as he wandered along the familiar corridors to Father's lair, not encountering Sloth at all because his memory had overlooked that detail. Father sat in his chair, facing away from whatever entrance Pride had used. How did he get here so quickly?_

_Father was suddenly in front of him now, staring down at him expectantly, Pride knew time could be finicky in dreams, and bowed down as soon as he noticed._

"_Father…I, I did everything you asked of me, Father. I …" He needed to be careful, oh so careful, having had this dream so many times Pride had been memorising what words affected how the dream proceeded. Though not speaking immediately was the worst disgrace of all here so he hadn't the time to consider his wording as much as he wished to. If he was good it might turn out in the least bad outcome, or maybe even alright. It didn't convince him in the least._

"_Did you receive my permission to return here?" Pride knew it was pointless to try to resist now, he'd been stupid to not try and mould the dream by stating things instead of being meek and humble, even if he was supposed to behave like that at all times with Father the Father in his dreams didn't work that way, nothing in his dreams worked like they should… "Then why have you returned? Did Sloth not warn you not to come here? He will need to be punished." Of course his dream would remember Sloth at a time like this. "But first, you must be punished for disobeying me, Pride." Pride thought about resisting further, running away or trying to defend himself with his shadows, but even in his dream that was far too disrespectful to Father that he wouldn't dare._

_His imagination wasn't developed enough to devise a suitable torture for him in his dreams, Father not moving an inch, disappearing completely as his vision melted away and flickered at the edges, sparks of Father's nondescript alchemy fizzing about in Father's attempts to destroy him for his insolence, which would be successful more often than not ever since his dreams had been twisted. Even though he knew it was pointless Pride felt compelled to apologise, anything to perhaps make Father reconsider, or enrage him so much that he brought the dream to an abrupt end with just a thought._

"_I'm sorry for disobeying you Father, I'll never…I'll never…" his screams only echoed about as he writhed about on the floor, anything to make it worse, end his suffering, anything was better than this , he'd rather endure twenty-four hours of lessons if he had to suffer through this every night-_

Something was poking him in his cheek, gently enough, not a shadow, something warm and disgusting in its own way. "It's time to wake up, Number 316." Pride shot awake with a gasp, the dream fading away as he absorbed his surroundings. Needed to know where he was. Who was pressing into his cheek? Pride roughly pushed the thing away with a whine in his throat, though the touch of his fingers against rough skin dragged him back into reality. "You were crying." He was too tired to reply, and only turned his head weakly towards the voice. The Doctor smiled at him, the light of the candle reflecting off his gold tooth while he crouched at his bedside. "Did you have a nightmare? I came in to wake you up when I saw you shaking, I tried to wake you up-" The Doctor again pressed softly into his cheek once, twice "-but it didn't work. Nice to see you're fine now." Fine? _Fine? _The Doctor had been watching him sleep while he had a nightmare and he was _fine?_ Nausea bubbled in his stomach at the thought of it, and he half gagged, disguising it as a relieved sigh. "You've overslept quite a bit. It's 8 o'clock." The Doctor pressed a hand to his forehead "My, 316, do you have a fever?" Pride checked for himself,

"No, I don't. You just said I'm fine."

"Questioning my judgement, Number 316?" Why was he calling him by his number? "I think you _do _have a fever. You aren't going to lessons today. You're going to spend the day with me." Pride bolted up, shaking his head

"I can't, I can't miss lessons. Fine, fine. I'm fine…" His exhaustion forced him into his usual mantra of adequacy.

"Your Father would not approve of your stubbornness, 316. Do you want me to tell him about your behaviour?" That hit a nerve. Pride frowned, he couldn't retort against something like that, and he only shook his head again, slower, downtrodden this time. "Splendid. Now, get yourself dressed and we'll be on our way." It didn't even matter where they were going, anywhere with the Doctor would be more than a little unpleasant to say the least. Pride paused to let the doctor leave, and failing that waved him away gently.

"I can't get dressed while you're here." The doctor's smile twitched in the corner, the sheen wavering over the glasses.

"You 'can't', 316? Or won't? You aren't embarrassed, are you?"

"I…No, I-"

"Then get dressed." There it was, that mocking undertone drenched in nothing but condescension. The Doctor would just bend around his argument, or just continue to interrupt him and then he'd scold him for wasting time. Pride snatched his uniform up from the foot of the bed and stood up. The Doctor still stubbornly crouching and in his way Pride decided it was easier to get dressed on the bed.

"Cl-close your eyes, please." The Doctor didn't oblige him, as he pulled his nightgown over his head, as he buttoned up his shirt and stepped into his shorts. When he was fully dressed the Doctor's eyes had never strayed (as far as the Doctor's eyes _could _move), still staring at him with his gold specked grin.

"Now that you're ready, 316, we can leave."

"Leave?"

"Why yes. I have an appointment outside and I feel as though, in your current state, that the trip may benefit you somewhat if you accompany me." That was good; if he was meeting other people from outside then he would have no opportunity to humiliate him in their presence. With a mirthless twitch of a smile Pride stepped off the bed, and followed the Doctor out the door of his room. Pride would never have thought that he would prefer playing truant over avoiding all contact with the Doctor. To be doing the opposite now was…barely believable even to himself.

But he longed to escape the facility for even the briefest moment that he just didn't care anymore.

0 * 0 * 0

"Before we go _there_, you will need suitable outdoor clothes." The soft autumn wind ruffled Pride's hair a tad, but Pride absorbed it with an equally as soft, quaint smile, contented in finally feeling the wind again, unhindered by the concrete walls of the facility. Pride's gaze flitted between everyone and everything in awe, the low hum of general human gossip through the marketplace filling his ears. The facility had made him forget such things existed, humans who weren't candidates and potential Wraths, a whole world that lived oblivious to the facility. It was amazing.

The Doctor had changed into suitable non-scientist attire for wherever they were going (at least Pride had the decency to let _him _get dressed in private), wearing a round black hat with a white ribbon around it, a black suit and matching scarf. After a while of walking through the market they arrived in a more sophisticated part of Central, and the doctor stopped front of a clothes shop doubling as a tailors'.

"After you, Pride." Pride? It was 'Pride' again now? Well, calling him a number would look strange in public, but so was Pride, did the Doctor not know his human name? Some part of Pride felt as though the Doctor didn't _deserve _to know his human name at all. Deciding not to ponder the Doctor's unusual choice of terms any longer he stepped through the door to the tailors'.

A woman was writing something down at her desk, and as the bell rang as Pride opened the door she looked up and smiled, stepping out from behind the desk.

"Hello there, little one. Are you here to…?" The Doctor walked in behind him, and stole her attention away immediately. The doctor took off his hat and shook her hand

"Good morning, Mrs…"

"Togg, Tiffany Togg, pleased to meet you. Are you here to pick up something, or are you placing an order?"

"I'm here to pick up a—jacket and tie I ordered, for the boy. I paid in advance." Mrs. Togg leafed through her order book until she found whatever fake name the Doctor had given her.

"Of course sir, you must have booked it with my husband. I'll bring them out right away." She smiled down at him again before entering the back room to find his tailored clothes. A few minutes later she stepped back out holding a blob of grey and black folded over her arm.

"Here we are." Mrs. Togg held them out for him, separating them out into a grey jacket and black tie. "Do you want to wear them now?" Pride just returned her smile and slipped the jacket on, waiting for her to tie his tie for him. "Aw, how cute, and they fit perfectly."

"Thank you." She patted him on the head with a final smile, before the Doctor ushered him away "Bye-bye, Mrs. Togg." For her to be the first human for him to have encountered since leaving the facility she wasn't unpleasant, and anything was a welcome change from the blank faced scientists.

Out in the street again Pride buttoned his jacket up so he wouldn't look uneducated, couldn't have people thinking he was anything but high class on his day out. The Doctor nudged his back, and motioned towards the book shop across the street "You like reading, don't you Pride? We have half an hour or so until we need to be there. Do you want to go there? I'll buy you something." The Doctor feigning niceties with him was as unsettling as his usual eccentricity, if not more so.

"…Ok." Being in the facility for so long he must have missed the publishing of many sophisticated, intellectual books, so if the Doctor was offering to buy something for him he saw no harm in it.

Pride didn't bother with introductions to the shop owner when he stepped through the door, walking straight to the array of bookshelves and beginning to browse, filled with his usual curiosity and enthusiasm when around literature. The usual human, fantasised, newly published drivel littered most of the shelves: _The Water-Babies, Eleanor's Victory, The Light princess, The Journey to the Center of the Earth. _After ten minutes of digging through the countless piles of nonsense Pride finally reached something sensible.

_Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man by Charles Lyell; Volume Three_

He'd meant to purchase this months ago, it was the only volume he was interested in, but the facility had interfered with it. At least it was still being published even with the author's spite in publishing it in the first place. Its controversy might have helped keep it popular. It would probably help him with his lessons as well. Pride took the book from its place on the shelf and handed it to the Doctor.

"Oh, this seems interesting, I'm sure you'll enjoy it." He paid the correct number of cenz before handing the book back to him, this time in a small paper bag. Content with the time they'd managed to waste at the shop the Doctor pushed him back through the entrance and into the street again. Without so much as another word he took him by the hand and led him through street after street to wherever the Doctor had his appointment. Pride could do nothing to stop him, he didn't know where he was, Central had changed so much in however many decades, and if he tried to stray he could easily breach his barrier again by mistake.

"I was here when construction started, and when it finished, and here I am now." Pride looked over the second laboratory with a marginally intrigued glance. He'd never seen the first one, and the facility posing as the third one wouldn't become a true third laboratory until Wrath was found, so the second one was mildly interesting if nothing else. The humans' attempts to master the art of alchemy through research would always fail to be even close to Father's alchemy, they didn't deserve to even know about Father's alchemy, but it kept them amused and the population interested. "I worked here too of course, once the first laboratory grew tired of me and suggested I spend time around others. I was young then, naïve, nothing but a boy really, fourteen…the other scientists, they thought I was _too_ young, they hadn't lived in the laboratory all their lives. They never did understand…" Pride only gave the Doctor a confused glance before shaking his head; he was talking nonsense as usual.

Inside the gate around the laboratory building the humans were bustling about in several groups, no doubt waiting for the ceremony dedicating the second decade of the second laboratory opening to begin. "You might as well find someone to talk to while you are here, Pride. We have ten minutes until the photographer is ready."

The scientists had brought their families along for the most part, their children, mostly young adults and a few teenagers, but there was a younger boy standing on the outside of one larger group. Pride padded up to him, falling into his standard act for talking to normal people.

"H-Hello." The boy turned around with a 'hm?' "My name's Selim, what's yours?"

"I'm Aleistor Lysander Hakuro, nice to meet you. My father's Oleander Hakuro. Does your father work at the laboratory too?" The boy's eyes were keen and slightly cold, but not threatening, and lacked the soulless uniformity that the candidates had. The boy knew nothing of suffering, was spoilt and pampered so had no reason to be apprehensive of someone who appeared as high class as him, Pride's grey jacket and tie matching the boy's own grey suit and light blue tie.

"Not exactly, but nice to meet you too." They shook hands with mutual smiles. Pride reluctantly soaked up the human's kindness, having been looked down upon by the candidates for so long the slight change was good enough for now. A few moments later Aleistor and his father had severed themselves from the group, though his father had dragged three or four associates with him to continue discussing things. The Doctor joined them too and actually managed to engage in slightly normal, if scientifically focused conversation with Mister Hakuro and the others, and all the while Aleistor gushed about his life as one of Central's high class citizens. It was nice to oblige him for now, for a human he wasn't as irritating as Pride would have anticipated, and they thrived on forcing others to listen to them, so it was for the best.

The photographer approached them, saying something about taking closer, smaller pictures first before having the crowd all line up. He told them not to look at the large, strange contraption on legs he called a camera either, to create a more natural effect or something like that.

Pride didn't mind it at all, he had been photographed once before by mistake during a short venture upstairs to purchase books, and he was far too efficient in his role as a normal child that no one would ever suspect a thing.

And with the humans' general intelligence, how could they ever hope to?

0 * 0 * 0

**December 28th 1864**

The day out had only been a temporary solution. Pride knew that at the time, and had been anticipating the return of the pining and misery twice as strong as before ever since. It had festered, festered and rotted until there was nothing but the gaping hole inside him that felt like it would never be filled. He hadn't slept for a week; he didn't want to suffer through the nightmares anymore. Even so his daze during classes was unaffected, still wistful and longing, but not assumptions of the worst scenario. Pride turned the page on his science book, it containing excerpts from the books of that Mr. Darwin and Mr. Lyell. On the board the topic was written in big white letters: Anthropology. A peculiar change, from normal science to a social science, but Pride didn't care enough to have an opinion on it.

"Now, we can see that humans have existed for over one hundred thousand years. From this it can be assumed that we possess a trait that enables us to survive so effortlessly, and to have developed so much in so little time. This county, for example, is less than half a millennium old, and have we not also achieved so much? Number 61, what one trait has allowed humans to survive for so long, in your view?" Number 61 scanned over his notes, searching for the relevant answer.

"A major factor may be intelligence. As humans are far more intelligent than animals they are capable of much more complex actions than them. Humans can use tools and develop technology to solve problems, and travel between distances by creating more and more complex machinery. Our use of alchemy may also be an extension of this success, as humans are the only being capable of doing so due to their knowledge of harnessing the energy made in tectonic movements."

"Acceptable, Number 61. Now, Number 263." Pride's head sank flat onto his book, there was no point in listening anymore. He needed to sleep, if he didn't sleep he would become lethargic, irrational and the result would be far worse than missing a few lessons. What was the point anyway? Succeeding in lessons wouldn't make him feel any better; nothing could make him feel better. The others were glaring at him, he could tell, and after a few moments he heard them whispering, or maybe he only imagined it.

_What are you doing 316?_

_Don't be stupid…_

_You'll get punished…_

_Don't go to sleep…_

_The Doctor will keep you all day again…_

By the time the instructor tried to admonish him Pride was already asleep, and was determined to spend every other lesson that way.

0 * 0 * 0

Wide awake. Pride leant against the wall on his bed, staring at the door, hands wrapped around the human's pistol. He was still in his uniform. His homesickness had continued to boil and burn its way through him, sleeping hadn't eased him at all, and he didn't dare sleep now even if he could. His shadow lay over his lap in a drowsy, miserable blob, several of its little hands plastered over the wall while it moped inconsolably. He'd been here for almost a year and a half now, surely Father would…Father would let him come home soon. Pride looked down at Ronald's pistol with his constant frown. Ronald had been loyal, and efficient, but he became useless and was killed, it was absurd to think he could be anything like that irresponsible, insignificant scientist. What could he do? He needed to make Father happy, and what would make Father happy? He'd been here for so long he could hardly remember what Father wanted anymore. Maybe if he just carried on his lessons and continued to be attentive and do his best Father would be pleased. Failing that what else? This facility was designed to find Wrath for Father; there was only seventy four left—seventy three with Number 22 gone, Father would be happy that he eliminated weak Number 22, he would be happy if he weeded out the weaker candidates, the foolish ones that would…but he needed to lure them out first.

The shadow was shaking, its teeth snapping at the air as sharp spasms tore through it. Pride petted at it gently to calm it down, but gasped as he realised what it wanted, what it needed.

_That was it. _

But using them too much would be senseless, so Pride waved them away. Using the pistol would be beneath him, but he'd accept it, be complacent and do as he needed to. An awful, malicious grin worked its way onto his face as he considered it, even as he walked to the other side of his room and sliced through the lock on his door with a thin line of his shadow.

Pride squinted under the electric lights of the corridor (did they keep them on all night too?), padding along with the same gleeful, excited grin. This feeling, the same feeling as he had duelled with Number 22, the anticipation, after so long of planning the excitement was expected. But here, with something spontaneous, the very idea of it was enticing, and Pride couldn't _wait_. Walking past the door marked '6' Pride knew he'd reached the dormitories. He could do it now. There were bound to be irresponsible candidates in Class 6, but the candidates in Class 6 didn't know him, they were more likely to be irrational if they didn't recognise him. Pride left the door locked and passed it by.

The teeth of his shadow clamped around the lock of Class 2's door, sawing through it slowly, as quietly as possible, mustn't draw unnecessary attention to himself. Number 12 was useless enough to be so rash as to pursue him; Pride had no doubt about that. Even so the probability, the element of chance was interesting, rather than him choosing who he killed and how. It made his grin widen even more. The door opened with a barely audible creak, and Pride peered inside as the light spilled into the dormitory. There were four rows of beds, beds more tiny and cramped than Pride's own, neatly in columns of three, a space of about two feet between each. One bed at the back was missing, only eleven candidates now of course they'd have removed 22's bed. Number 12 was first, then 17, then 40 and so on. The room was bigger than Pride had anticipated, and a ways off he could see others, more rows of beds and sleeping candidates. Why did they have separate doors if it was all the same room? Number 17 groaned and wearily lifted his head with a yawn, staring at him dopily, but he simply rolled over and went back to sleep. Number 12 didn't wake at all. More groans, more awake sounding groans, and Pride darted noisily away. There was no doubt some would follow him, they had a choice in the matter, and if they so chose to pursue him and end their lives well, that was their own fault.

Pride stopped at the dead end that held his room and pulled the door shut again from the outside, catching his breath, waiting for the others to find him. It wasn't very long before the two…three, four, _five _of them came running along. _Five_, Pride shuddered in anticipation, tapping his fingers over the cylinder of the pistol behind his back. They were all here now: Number 40, Number 42, Number 57, Number 61 and Number 105. "Good evening, all of you. I'm sorry I woke you up."

"Why did you wake us up then, 316?" Number 61, closest to him, wrinkled his nose. Pride put on his best meek face and leaned sadly,

"I didn't mean to, it was an accident."

"How could it be when the door was locked?" Number 40 called from the back, Number 42 nodding in agreement, calling out in his almost identical voice

"You have the doctor's key? What did you do to get that?" Number 40 snorted at the question

"You know full well what he did, 42. The Doctor gives Number 316 _lots _of nice things like that, extra food, keys." Number 42 covered his mouth with a little gasp, like he didn't want to believe what Number 40 was implying.

"He's still wearing his uniform, maybe he…" Number 105 trailed off, not wanting to say it either. Number 57 drowned him out, hissing at him from his place beside Number 61.

"You'll get punished again for waking us up, 316, but you're already used to that, aren't you? You do it on purpose, I bet that's why you have your own room, the doctor just likes you _that _much." Pride's grin faded away, what were they accusing him of? The utter disgust in their voices, what shameful thing did they think he…? "Well, you won't be Fuhrer that way." His head low, Pride sent his shadow behind them, forming a wall along the corridor. There, they couldn't escape now.

"You're all wrong. You don't know anything about me. I may not be able to be Fuhrer, but neither will any of you." Not caring about taking his time anymore Pride pulled the pistol out from behind him, aiming for 61 because he was closest and squeezed the trigger tight with two fingers, closing his eyes to anticipate the bang and the recoil.

..._click._ Nothing.

_It was empty?_

No wonder it was so light.

Number 61 had covered his face and his half-wince, and warily opened his eyes after he heard the click. But Pride caught something in the corner of his eye, coming towards him, and his briefest thought brought the shadows growing from the ceiling and the floor. In less than a second they'd constricted at both ends, and pulled sharply from either side. Both halves of Number 57 fell to the floor with two heavy _splats_ one after the other, blood staining Pride's shoes as even he pulled away to the wall with a gasp. The others were too shocked to react, Number 61 still recovering from almost getting shot. Their expressions, they were familiar somehow, but he just…couldn't remember.

Too late. It was too late now. He had to.

Something tugged the side of his mouth into a smile, then the other side, until he couldn't do anything _but _smile, familiar glee and bloodlust consuming him.

"Poor Number 57, he's dead already. That's no fun." Number 61 was too close, and a shadow pierced through his throat sideways, and forming into a hook it snapped back, pinning him to the wall. The others, no swords to protect them, were still too dumfounded to move. Number 105 found his feet and pushed Number 40 and 42 apart to run away, the coward. He could be dealt with later.

"Number 40 and 42. You know that you're siblings, don't you? That's why you hate each other, because you know only one of you can become Fuhrer." They didn't answer, both of them trembling a little. "Hmm, well, never mind. I think youngest first will be nice." With another quick thought another shadow rose up and buried itself into Number 42's stomach. Number 42's tortured screams were enough to keep him amused for the time being, the way he patted at his stomach, not wanting to even believe it, and when the blood came away on his fingers he blanched and smeared it over his face and his blond hair to try and hide his tears. The shadow started dragging him closer, gently enough to not tear anything; he didn't want to kill him too soon. Number 40 reached out, wrapping his arms around him and trying to pull him away. _So he does care…_

Pride sniggered with a tilt of his head.

"Trying to help him? How foolish." Number 57's blood dripping from the ceiling fell and dribbled over Pride's shoulder, staining all one side of his shirt. "As Fuhrer you cannot wish to help others," Pride lowered two of his little hands down behind Number 40, digging into his back, clawing at his spine and tightening around it "you should be able to take care of yourself." The shadow in Number 42's stomach flattened, expanded from the inside, and _pulled. _Simultaneously the shadows around Number 40 shot to the ceiling, Number 40's head snapping back and smashing into it with a loud _crack. _He coughed weakly, blood trickling out of his mouth. Pride lay Number 42 down on his back, tenderly, just so they could see each other before they died. "That is why neither of you are going to be Fuhrer, Number 40, Number 42." Looking down at Number 42, seeing his stomach torn open, and his quick, terrified, teary-eyed gasps as he stared up at Number 40, it looked so… Pride's eyes widened as something seemed to break open in his mind, a barrier being lifted…

_The blood, through the rain they looked dumbfounded down at him, his body, his little head and neck-less body, and the shadows burst forth again before they had even the chance the flee, nothing but screams and blood and cutting and the messy tearing of limbs until there was nothing left._

"I remember…" That day. That dreary, awful November day in 1712. It hadn't been Lust who killed them. It was _him_. He'd killed them without even knowing _how _to use his shadows. The swell of satisfaction in his chest at the knowledge that he hadn't relied on Lust for such a thing overturned any initial shock of remembering after so long. But that wasn't of the utmost importance right now, Number 105 still needed to be attended to.

Number 105 was digging his fingers into the wall of shadow when he arrived, the shadow only moulding to accommodate his shape as he did. Catching sight of him he curled up into a pitiable ball.

"Hello, Number 105. You coward." Number 105 didn't raise his head at all. "You who hoped to become Fuhrer one day, are so cowardly that you won't look at me, little, weak Number 316? You don't want to die, right, Number 105?" He shook his head slowly. "That's good, self preservation is important in humans, that's why you ran away. Say, I know how you can stay alive for while longer, would you like that? Of course you would." While he was distracted teeth grew out along the shadow blocking the corridor, a pearly white stripe spreading through the sea of inky black. Straightening out a bit Number 105 actually believed him, looking hopeful even. Well, why shouldn't he be? Pride wasn't _lying_. "Good, Number 105, now that we're in agreement we can-" The shadow clamped over him without a sound, though it flattened itself down with a sickening _crunch_ immediately after. They were efficient, no blood, no trace of 105 whatsoever.

Content and satiated, Pride walked along the corridor to his room, making his shadows around Number 40 fade away, who fell with wet thump next to Number 42. Number 61 was still alive, blood bubbling out the sides of his neck; he was deathly pale and barely conscious at all, only blinking slowly, head sagged, eyes pleading. His mouth opened a fraction, probably to beg him, to let him die, but only blood poured out instead. Pride's brow furrowed a little, and he forced the shadow to rip forward, tearing his throat out and letting him slump down in a rather peaceful looking heap. He stepped over the top half of Number 57, staring into his empty, glazed, wide open eyes as he did. Not looking where he was stepping he slipped a little in the blood and slid down to the floor where he'd been standing before. Pride didn't mind it; he could…rest here for a while.

When the Doctor and his other scientist friends found him in the morning he was still there, staring straight ahead, knees bent only slightly, hands open at his side, all his left side drenched in now dry blood. The only indication they had that he was even alive was when he raised his head slowly, curiously, like he hadn't heard or saw them at all.

His forlorn line of a mouth twisted into a smile, and his eyes glistened.

"My uniform got dirty."

0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0

Phew, finally got this chapter done ^_^

Now, addressing Pride's photo-bombing, in the manga the earliest date shown in the photos is the 1864 one, but the anime says the earliest is 1855, so I included that little bit about Pride being photographed once before ^^ Now, I found the back pic saying "sep. 1864", and I saw the picture next to it was of Pride and another boy and someone who looked like Goldtooth wearing his clothes from when he visits Kimblee in the North, so for convenience's sake I decided that both photographs were taken on the same date so I could have Goldtooth take Pride out of the facility ^_^

it's pretty late over here so I can't write much right now. Hopefully I'll be on time updating in two weeks ^_^


	49. Forgetting Ferocity in Favour of

A/N a day late x_x and too late in the late day to write anything. I'm so tired ;_;

Reviewers:

Asher Tye:

Nooo, that would be far too cruel ;_; Father doesn't know about the Doctor, since he has a pretty laissez faire attitude to the candidates, he doesn't care about what happens to the candidates as long as one of them ends up being Wrath in the end, so he just leaves them be.

Yeah, all those photographs~ I just have him photobombing since I thought that writing him living in with every family would be boring, not to mention it takes away the uniqueness of living with Wrath and Mrs. Bradley later. I don't think Pride would have put up with living away for no reason anyway. You mean Prince Selim right? Miles is just Pride's container ^^ actually, Pride and Selim don't look anything like each other, I'll be making reference to it again in a later chapter ^_^

Anne camp:

Yep, he really went crazy on this one, he just got so wound up with the repetitiveness and the homesickness that he just had to kill someone in the worst way possible ^^ not to mention his paranoia that the other candidates don't like him, when they're just all indifferent to each other for the most part anyway.

Well, he was trying to be nice and not kill anyone else after number 22, it just got too much after a year and a half ;) especially their hints that they thought he's 'sleeping his way to the top' so to speak.

Well, you obviously should expect 'teh gore' with me, especially with this being Pride's pent up rage rampage ^^

Thank you, I was on the look out for them as I was writing this time, so I hope I can get better at it as I go along :)

Darkravensnight:

Yep, we all hate Goldtooth, so much x.x Well, this was more a spontaneous thing on Pride's part and he hasn't really thought the consequences trough because he's just snapped after so long, but we'll see ^^

Muddywolf- replied already

Moofy-fan

Yeah, homesick Pride is very sad. I'm surprised it took him that long to get so upset about it ;_; The nightmares really didn't help, since it just makes him think that even if he sees Father again it might end just as badly ;_;

I know right, even though he appreciated the day out so much it still didn't change the fact that he was still trapped there after that : ( Yes, Goldytooth just keeps getting worse since Pride can't do anything to fight back ;_;

I feel bad for the Fuhrer candidates toooo ;_; Pride just snapped from being cooped up for so long something had to give and they just happened to be the ones to follow him : (

0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0

**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Forty-Nine: Forgetting Ferocity in Favour of Facilitating Father**

**December 29****th**** 1864**

"My uniform got dirty."

The silence that followed was exquisite, and Pride from his place on the floor absorbed it all with a delighted grin. That horrible gnawing feeling was nothing but a distant memory, filled by the fresh thoughts of death, the blood that had warmed him from head to toe, that had cooled and congealed now, clinging to his skin, but still a wonderful reminder of that time but a few hours before. The bodies helped too, though they were pale and ever so stiff now, boring.

"They're all dead, sir." The scientist that was female was stepping cautiously around them. Pride had never seen her before. There was a number '5' embroidered into her lab coat; she must have been the scientist that woke class 5 up. Pride lifted head a fraction higher, and cocked his head, his gleeful smile sagging.

"Why do you assume that I would be so sloppy? Of course they're all dead. Why do you doubt me…?" He whispered in his most innocent tone, a deliberate undertone of hurt rippling just beneath the surface. Letting his head sink back down into his previous bliss filled daze Pride followed the messy brown patterns staining the floor, and dragged his clean hand over the closest one, dirtying it.

"My, Number 316, what have you done?" Pride didn't move his head as he met the Doctor's gaze, slowly licking at his palm, cleaning it again. It didn't taste the same, but it would do. Why did he still insist on calling him that? He wasn't 316 anymore, wasn't it obvious enough, with what he'd done? Pride just ignored him and focused on sucking at the fingers on his completely crimson left hand, cleaning them too. The Doctor sank down in from of him, digging his hand into his matted, blood soaked hair in an attempt to pat his head. "I think you'll be needing a bath, Number 316." His tooth sparkled with his delighted smile, and his fingers tightened his hair and pulled the tiniest bit with a _squelch_, almost playful in its own revolting way.

"Don't touch me." Pride reached up to pull his hand away with his spare hand, but he froze as his fingers brushed the Doctor's skin. This was the first time Pride had ever touched the Doctor deliberately, and feeling the disgust building in his stomach pushed him roughly away, feeling the tug of his shadows as they let him push him an acceptable distance even with his exhaustion. The skin of his fingers didn't crack at the force, and Pride was grateful for that more than anything. There was no point in accidentally revealing himself to the other scientists, if they didn't know about him already. The Doctor only smiled, even with the brown streak running along his coat where he'd fell, making that repulsive chuckle in his throat as he stood back up and dusted himself off.

"How impolite of you, Number 316. Oh well, in your current…_condition_, I suppose you wouldn't be behaving impeccably." No point listening to him and his blasé reaction to the horrible thing, just what he wanted. Pride just kept his head down and continued to nurse at the blood on his fingers. "But I cannot indulge you any longer. The other candidates need to be woken up in half an hour. Now, you can't go to briefing covered in blood, you will need that bath immediately." The Doctor still expected him to go to briefing even after what he'd done? How was he supposed to explain what had happened? The others would be suspicious of him because they just hated him that much, surely the Doctor couldn't want him to carry on like nothing had happened, the very thought of it was just…

"You can take 316 for his shower; I will wake your class today." The other scientist nodded glumly. Pride didn't know him either, but from his tightening ball on the floor he could sense something there, something…almost sad. _Oh, there_, the number on his lab coat: _2_. But it was absurd to think he actually cared for the candidates in Class 2, wasn't it? The scientist stepped around the others, staring at the top half of Number 57 with the same solemn expression. He seemed to wipe at the front of his face softly, doing what exactly Pride wasn't sure, but he seemed happier after that, whispering a melancholy 'there' to himself. Pride didn't look up as he knelt down in front of him, didn't resist at all as he wrapped his arms under him, picking him up gently enough. Pride just hadn't the energy left to resist anymore.

0 * 0 * 0

The scientist had been nice enough, but had been distracted somehow.

The water still trickled over the back of his leg, turning his previously brown stained skin red and then dribbling as a faint, but visible pink, winding around and closer to the front with each long _drip._ Thick speckles of dried blood still clung under his fingernails, in the corner of his mouth, over his left eyelid, almost looking like a bruise. An unsatisfactory job, but the Doctor seemed too distracted to care either.

"Evidently, can you not see the five candidates absent from this briefing? Numbers 40, 42, 57, 61 and…105." At his mention of the one they hadn't found the body of the Doctor kneaded his fingers into Pride's shoulder _hard_, and from the corner of his eye Pride could see the Doctor returning his stare from his misdirected pupils. Pride could almost _hear _his voice in his head, its same old wretched, something-soaked tone resounding there…

_It was your shadows, wasn't it? You ate him._

_Show me those delightful _shadows_ of yours. _

_Do you _want _me to tell your Father about your misbehaviour?_

_Let me see them._

And even then he'd call him _316_, humiliating him like it was the only thing he was capable of anymore.

"It is because, my dear candidates, last night they, as well as Number 316, attempted to run away from our perfect facility." Pride tugged his sleeve down as he watched the others, the six remaining candidates of Class 2: 12, 17, 216, 263, 271, 310 and the rest of them, their unmitigated astonishment of the _idea_ of not just one of them trying to run away but _six _ofthem. Pride didn't know whose of the others' uniform this was, that the Doctor had taken when he'd woke Class 2 up, only that it was far too big for him, but at least it hid most of the remaining blots of blood decorating him. "Of course this was unacceptable and they were _disposed__of_ a few moments ago. How unfortunate, but they made their choice, to turn their back on the opportunity to lead this country. We cannot guide the unruly, or those that do not wish to become Fuhrer, so perhaps it is for the best." Pride bowed his head sadly, shuffling away a little to dislodge the Doctor's hand, but he just tightened his grip, until Pride found himself flinching as he was pulled roughly to his side. "As Number 316 is numbered last, he shall be disposed of now." Oh, of course, he was being made an example of, so that none of the others would be encouraged to 'do the same', though given the Doctor's usual punishments Pride thought it was something of a redundancy. They hadn't the individuality to even think about doing something like what he was being accused of. "Do you have nothing to say, Number 316?" The same bland, blank expressions of confusion and accusation of all the candidates radiated from all of them just as it had on that first day so long ago now. Even without the six that had been there before, even with that peculiar sympathy that they sometimes held for him when he was being punished like before it was overshadowed by the accusation now. They all thought that terrible thing of him, that filthy terrible thing that they thought he sought out. Still, Pride didn't move, didn't bow, only bearing the antithesis of his hopeful, optimistic self, naught but sad, tired, drooping, blackened eyes and a rather apathetic frown, like he couldn't feel anything anymore, no trace of his previous unparalleled delight at slaughtering the others only hours ago left at all.

"Goodbye, everyone." At least it was only his act, at least, Pride liked to think it was. The Doctor led him away without another word.

A softer, warmer, altogether happier thought rose up through his mind, since he was 'dead' now, that meant he could finally leave. The Doctor wouldn't have said that otherwise. The other scientists were still cleaning up when they passed them, and it was only then that Pride realised there were going completely the wrong way to leave. He directed him through the long corridor by his shoulders, looming behind him. Before Pride had even realised it he was being forced into his room, it more of a shove now than an encouraging nudge. The room was almost empty now, no table or candle, just his nightgown and book on the floor in the corner.

"Sit down." The Doctor's hands again pressed into his shoulders, forcing him to sit down on the bed next to him. "Now, 316, your Father has requested that you remain here until January 10th, one year and six months since the…incident that resulted in your stay here. Until then you must remain in your room at all times, lest the other candidates see you." Pride nodded. That made sense. Light trickled in through the open door, and he briefly wondered why the Doctor had gotten rid of the candle. "Only thirteen more days, 316, and then you shall be free to leave." Pride leant back as the Doctor tried to brush at his cheek, even more so when he hunched forward to try and reach the buttons on his shirt.

"What are you doing?" Pride pushed weakly at his hand, disgust running through him again at making the choice of actually touching him, but if he didn't protest even the tiniest bit then who knew what he would think of next to do…what he thought he could do to him… "Stop that." The temptation was there, to use his _real_ voice again, that screeching metallic tone that would reduce any human to a pathetic quivering wreck. But Pride knew that the Doctor would only be too pleased if he had driven him to using it again, to be disobedient to Father's wishes and not use his human voice…he mustn't disobey Father, he'd never be so foolish again.

"You—you don't need to wear your uniform now, 316, you won't be going to lessons again." A flash passed over his glasses "But…if you _want _to continue to wear your 'new' uniform from one of the candidates you _slaughtered_ that is perfectly fine." There was a sort of unexpected happiness there. Pride couldn't resist another shudder. "Now, I am very busy. I must begin planning how the six classes will be rearranged so that they are somewhat equal again, Class 2 having lost _half _of its candidates due to your actions today. I'll leave you to rest now, 316; I'm sure using your shadows so much must have been very taxing. Have a nice rest." Suddenly the Doctor was leaning in again, closer this time, and cupping his face with both hands he softly pressed his lips to Pride's forehead. However delicate and tender it was _trying_ to be, it was wet and slimy, and left a little spot of residue there. What was this? Why was he even…? Was this his new method of humiliating him? He remembered something, Lust used to…do something like this…so long ago…

_Goodnight, __Pride._

But this—this was nothing like that, that was…pleasant wasn't the word for it back then, nothing Lust ever did was ever _pleasant_, but at least it wasn't like _this!_

By the time Pride had finished furiously rubbing his forehead free of the wretched thing the Doctor had already stood up and was walking towards to door. Pride didn't turn to watch him leave, only waiting in silence until he was sure he was gone. The slit of light from under the door was the only thing that disturbed the darkness of his room now. But the yellowish stream flickered blue after a series of irritating taps and scrapes from the other side of the door, and the gap sealed up, joining completely to the wall and the floor.

No light. No candle to make light, so he couldn't even use his shadows now.

He was trapped here.

Pride scowled at the Doctor's futile attempts to make him feel vulnerable. He unbuttoned his stolen, damp, pink patch-tinted shirt and threw it at the new wall, the rest of his uniform following it immediately after, the metal of one of his braces striking it with an echoing clang. He pulled his nightgown over his head, his scowl softening into more of a set determination to not change out of his nightgown until he left this place. Pride briefly thought about what had become of his blood-soaked 'true' uniform, but then realised he didn't care to think about it too hard.

With a final blind glare at his 'new', now obsolete uniform, Pride finally let himself sleep, content in the knowledge that Father wanted him to come home, and that he was a Fuhrer candidate no longer.

They were gone when he woke up in the morning.

0 * 0 * 0

**January 10th 1865**

He was actually here this time, actually walking through the corridors now rather than in his distorted, pessimistic dreams. But he hadn't had one of those for a few weeks, after he'd found out he was allowed home all his apprehension and fear had just melted away. The grey rings around his eyes had lightened over the week as he recovered the sleep he had lost over his time at the facility. Pride knew he must have been sleeping for over twenty hours of the day, only being interrupted when the Doctor felt the need to check to see if he'd decided to escape again by cutting a hole in the wall, as if he even could. Pride had slept on the floor for the past few days, acclimatising himself to sleeping there again when he returned home; it was more comfortable than the lumpy, broken bed anyway. The floor was the only place suitable for him anyway, otherwise Father would have provided him with a bed of his own, and because he didn't feel as though he was as maladaptive as his siblings who could only sleep on beds, and found it only fitting that he sleep on stone as Father himself did.

Of course, that wasn't to say that he had become conceited over the idea of being forgiven by Father, he knew that the line he was treading was still dangerously thin, and perhaps even a wrong move in his presentation and report of his redemption would end negatively anyway. But it was only a healthy and sensible concern, it was better to be cautious than presumptuous on whether Father would forgive him, and even if he didn't completely Pride would accept any punishment without complaint. Nothing else was important if it meant that Father would love him again. He'd lived at the facility for over a year, any of additional punishment would be nothing but a slap on the wrist in comparison. He'd be fine. In what Pride considered to be the most sensible action, though what he knew was a nervous attempt to stall he set his book down in the corridor. He could pick it up later and add it to Father's library- it was not that important right now to warrant carrying it during his apology.

Steeling himself for the inevitable (and if he waited any longer while Father was expecting him it would look even worse) Pride stepped out of the corridor and nervously into Father's room.

Father was there, not in his chair but standing up and waiting for him just like in his dreams, except nowhere near as close. Even from this distance his glare bore down on him, crushing the confidence out of him until his head was hanging down in its usual ashamed droop. He didn't deserve to look at Father until he was forgiven. He'd survived so long without seeing him already; another few moments wouldn't bother him at all.

It wouldn't be acceptable to make Father walk to him, and Pride shuffled his way forward, bare feet scuffing the floor as a barely noticeable trembling shook his container. It was nothing he couldn't easily ignore. Still Father remained sombre and silent, not moving an inch. With his head still bowed completely Pride sank onto his knees, his nightgown billowing around him, sleeves pooling on the ground as he leaned forward.

"G-g…Good morning, Father."

"Good morning, Pride. I see you have returned at the appropriate time. I trust you followed all the orders given to you by the alchemist doctor as I instructed you." Pride froze in a rigid ball at the mention of the Doctor. If Father was asking about such things that meant everything the Doctor had ever instructed him had been from Father, even…the day before…

"Yes, Father I did…I did everything he asked of me." …even _that._ It didn't matter, everything happened because Father willed it, because he wanted it to happen. Pride knew he needed to be punished, he deserved it… "I'm sorry, Father. I will remain ever loyal, dutiful and devoted until the Promised Day. I will never disobey you or show any treasonous disrespect to my siblings again." Father paused, and after moment brushed against a hair on his head, and soon it softened into a gentle pat. However forced it was Pride didn't care, not pushing into it because that would be insolent, but appreciating it all the same with an emotionless line instead of a smile. Even so his eyes betrayed him, shining with an elated wet sparkle.

"You are forgiven, Pride." That was it, the affirmation that his apology and all his endeavours of repentance were accepted. Father loved him again now, and all his anxiety drained away as a relieved, already warping sigh. Nothing of the facility or the Doctor was of any significance anymore. Pride could forget all about those humiliating things now. "I expect you to maintain your previous loyalty from now on."

"**Thank you for forgiving me, Father." **Every part of him glowed with an overjoyed blush at the sound of his _real_ voice again. A few sparse tears of happiness leaked out as he blinked, but Father didn't seem to mind them.

"You have done well, Pride. You may rest now." Father handed him a Stone gently. It was plump and smooth and beautifully perfect, scarlet patterns swirling inside it gracefully. It probably contained more than enough souls, maybe even more than what he had before he was punished.

"**Thank you, Father."** Pride flashed his most genuine smile before popping the Stone into his mouth. He lay down, curling into a content ball on the floor, still smiling. Father nodded, but didn't say anything more, walking back to his chair, his usual solemn air about him. Pride was still too delighted about actually seeing Father again to mind it, if anything the familiarity was wonderful. Everything could go back to normal now. His eyelids drooped heavily, and with a last happy glance at Father Pride nestled into his place on the floor.

The echoed screams of the humans in replenishing his Stone lulled him to sleep.

0 * 0 * 0

**July 24th 1868**

The Togg's seemed to still be a thriving tailors' when Pride wandered past it on his trip to the bookshop among other things during his second outing upstairs since he had left the facility, and he was determined to make the most of it. His long, black coat-tailed jacket soaked up the July heat, and Pride had been tempted once or twice against his better judgment to purchase one of those Aerugan parasols. Still, the warmth heating his container uncomfortably would be a hindrance, so Pride decided he would pick up the clothes he had ordered on a whim a few months before when he had purchased that human's_ ''Treatise on Natural Philosophy'_. He had asked the shop owner if Lust had purchased any books, not using names of course, but he said that she had, two senseless fictitious nonsense like always: _Little Women_ and _Madeleine Ferat _(though the shop owner said he didn't stock that anymore and warned him not to go looking for it for a reason Pride couldn't fathom). He had been wearing his jacket and useless sky-blue scarf for almost eighty years now, changing them was necessary anyway.

The woman at the desk was not young Mrs. Tiffany Togg, instead there was a younger woman wearing a light blue dress sitting in her place, only fifteen or sixteen by the looks of it. She looked up with a smile but didn't stand up- how lazy of her.

"Good afternoon. Are your parents with you?" Pride shook his head, falling into his shy act; it was the easiest method of manipulating human females.

"No, they're both working. I ordered some clothes here, Mrs. Tiffany wrote it down." She seemed happy with that, nodding. It was amazing how easily humans could be deceived, or maybe they just didn't care that what they assumed to be a child was wondering around town alone. Humans were certainly self-centered and callous enough to think that way.

"Oh, Tiffany doesn't work Sundays. I'm her sister, Tabitha. This is my first month working here, nice to meet you. Now, what name did you order your clothes under?"

"Um, Selim, just Selim. I-Is that ok?"

"That's fine, I'm sure you'll be the only one with that kind of name for definite." Pride didn't know whether she was insulting his human name or simply calling it unique, but his childish smile didn't twitch at all, and he waited for her to dig out his order slip. When she finally found it Tabitha rushed into the backroom just like her sister had three years before and shut the door behind her.

Rather than do nothing while he waited for Tabitha to come back Pride unbuttoned his jacket and folded it neatly on the chair where customers who weren't being served sat. He'd had the sense to leave his scarf at home, and now that he had new clothes to wear he doubted that he would wear this thick, uncomfortable outfit again. Tabitha stepped out again carrying a clump of black and white and a splotch of red.

"Here we go. I'm afraid we don't have a room where you can change. Do you want to wear only the jacket now?"

"And the bow too, please." Pride smiled his less shy more excited grin and shifted from one foot to the other. He was a little excited over finally getting new clothes (the Doctor hadn't let him keep the ones from his day out, not that he wanted to) after all this time. She returned it with a warm, marginally more genuine one as she tied the bright red bow tie around his neck, making sure it was perfect for a tailors' of the Togg's assumed standing. Pride slipped his jacket, it much thinner and bearable than his previous given the weather, with no ostentatious coattails either.

"Ok, so that's: one white shirt, black suit- jacket and trousers," while Pride much preferred shorts over trousers given the less than positive things that happened to him when he was wearing them he didn't want to look uncivilized, which was a good enough excuse. "red bow-tie and shoes we purchased from the nearby cobblers'. All together that should cost, hmm…" she jotted something down on a piece of paper on the desk, and nodded as she seemed to calculate the price. It probably wouldn't be all that much, books were only two hundred and seventy cenz or so, clothes couldn't be that much more. "Nine-thousand cenz?" Pride's face fell into an incredulous silent gasp.

"_What?_ ! " Pride had only brought nine-thousand cenz with him! He'd bought Penelope for a ninth of that, a _horse!_ How could they even _dare_ to charge that much—this made no sense whatsoever.

"What's wrong? It can't be like 't used to be. That War in Aerugo ruined the economy." Was this the economy that book had spoken about? It made all Amestris's money worth less and everything be extortionately expensive. Pride would have never thought anything against the Crest of blood formed in Aerugo, but its consequence seemed a tad inconvenient. "Not that I'm anywhere near that age mind you, but I think, considering how low the Cen is worth now our prices are rather reasonable." She folded the clothes into a woven bag, holding it out to him.

"Oh, ok, Miss Tabitha." Pride clawed all the money out of his pocket and handed it to her with a less than flawless grin now, his act marred by a hairline fracture, but he'd be perfectly fine. Buying a book may have been out of the question but at least he had better clothes now. Well, now that he wasn't able to spend any more money unless he killed any humans and stole their money (and that was so degrading that he wouldn't _dare_ even consider it) there must have been something else he could do to occupy the rest of his time on his day out. There must be somewhere he could go that would be— _Oh_, that was it.

Tucking the bag straps over his elbow Pride ran out the tailors' without so much as an innocent 'bye-bye'.

Pride knew _exactly _where he could go.

0 * 0 * 0

Pride would have never thought the air could be so crisp and fresh from up here, he'd have assumed it to be as emotionless, and as sterilised and as devoid of life as the rest of this place. Being back here he wished he hadn't returned at all, but he was still a little…curious. He'd only ever seen the facility from the inside out, maybe a less – _involved_ approach would leave him in a better state of mind once he left, and besides, he would only be observing for an hour at the most, so there was no harm in it.

The wind helped anyway, it soothed him, made him remember that he was _here_, outside now, and that he would never be forced return. He- he could never go back, he just _couldn't. _His container looked too young to try and fit in anymore, so it was an impossibility now. Yes, he was just visiting…that was all…

A small blob of a thing on the floor on the far end of the wall stole his jittery attention away, which was for the best. Pushing himself to his feet he tiptoed along the wall, his shadow coating it in a soft black cushion beneath his shoes, it fanning out slightly over the sides to stop him from falling, as if he would. A wisped hook of one hung down the non-facility side of the wall, wrapped around his clothes bag lest he forget about it. There was no one around this side of Central because of the countless warning signs dotted with a mile radius of the 'still not finished third laboratory', so he needn't worry about being seen.

While there was no doubt that the blob was a candidate, whoever he was had piqued Pride's interest for a time, and he felt as though he needed to see who it was before he did anything else during his time-wasting visit here. The candidates had probably changed so much over the past few years, and he had paid so little attention to them as it was, would he recognise them? And they him? Probably not the latter, if they thought he was dead. They lived in their own isolated world where death was only for the weak, and they believed him to be the weakest of all, so if they thought even for a second that the scientists had lied well, that would complicate things far too much. They weren't smart enough to think about such things anyway.

A brown, messy stain covered the floor, and the clearer shape of the candidate was scrubbing stubbornly at it. He was wearing his obvious, expected uniform, and it was a wonder he wasn't sweltering with his black hair—

_Black hair. _There was only one candidate with black hair-

"Number 12." Pride wondered what disobedient thing Number 12 must have done to warrant missing lessons and cleaning the blood on the floor. He would have assumed the Doctor would have punished him in his much more _usual_ way, but—no, the Doctor only punished _him_ that way, none of the others. Pride wasn't sure if he would want to wish something like that on anyone.

Oblivious Number 12 continued angrily scrubbing at floor, none too well, just smearing it around and turning the rag he'd been using different shades of pink. It was probably just a tedious, boredom inducing punishment rather than one that could actually be completed effectively, if at all. Pride let his legs sway over the wall's edge absentmindedly, just watching, waiting to see if he'd notice.

By the time Pride was about to leave after fifteen minutes of silence Number 12 finally looked up at him, though that was only because Pride's shadow had stretched far enough to cover him as the sun finally began to fall from its scorching afternoon peak. Pride looked down at Number 12 with a smirk.

"Hello, Number 12. Finally bothered to realise I'm here?" Number 12 squinted a little, as if he couldn't see him properly "Do you not remember me? Well, I'm out of those wretched braces now, so maybe you can't tell it's me." Still the older-looking boy didn't react outside of scowling for distracting him. There was a nasty black smudge around his eye. Sparring must have gotten out of hand, and Pride was rather grateful he hadn't stayed in the facility long enough to get to _those _lessons. He didn't speak, still trying to remember him, but even if he did he'd probably not believe it, so what was the point?

"Oh well, you'll need punishing for not remembering me, Number 12."

"Number 316-?" Pride shot a shadow from the wall at him with a quiet giggle. He slowed a tad to let him dodge it. He was only being playful, no need to kill him. He'd killed enough Fuhrer candidates already. There, now Number 12 was paying attention to him, but he didn't look afraid, or even confused. He only glared, every part of it consumed by a determined hate, which meant 12 realised who he was. Pride never understood why 12 hated him outside of jealousy, but he'd never thought it important enough to think about for very long, it was irrelevant at best. After leaving the facility Pride had no intentions of ever seeing the immature child again, but seeing the hate 12 still held for him even now, well, that just made him even more immature than he first thought. How pathetic for a thirteen—no, twelve year old. But they were just humans, so Pride had no idea why he should have expected any different.

With his effortless spikes of shadow bursting from the wall Pride observed with an amused grin as Number 12 weaved and pulled himself away from them, no doubt trying his utmost like candidates did in everything. But it was futile, and far from acceptable given what had to be his most lethargic speed of the shadows he was deftly avoiding. Pride's fleeting interest in playing with Number 12 was waning, and with a final thought on the matter one last thin shadow intentionally pierced the air beside his head, barely visible at all.

And Number 12 flinched and pulled himself _towards_ it by mistake, it cutting into his cheek. Pride forced the shadow away before it cut too deep.

"**It's like you want to die, running the wrong way like that, Number 12."** The boy wiped roughly at his cheek, hardly reacting at all. At least his pain tolerance was better than the others. This had grown tedious now, and Pride pooled his shadow around Number 12 with another smirk.

"**Farewell, Number 12."** The blunt, rounded edge of the shadow smashed itself into the back of his head. There, he wouldn't remember now. It was better that he not remember. **"If you can't avoid my shadows when I'm not even **_**trying**_** there is no possibility of you being able to embody Father's Wrath."**

He set Number 12 down gently on the floor near where he'd been cleaning. They wouldn't suspect a thing; they'd only punish him further for deciding to go to sleep. Quite pleased with himself Pride lowered himself down off the wall and headed home. Father wouldn't mind that he a little late. He'd bought himself new clothes, and observed the humans to see if anything was amiss, and that was all that really mattered to Father.

0 * 0 * 0

**July 22nd 1876**

Pride hadn't seen his siblings' rooms in almost fifty years, and had no intention of doing so again. He'd seen Lust taking things in and out of the corridor that led to their rooms: books, clothes, food, human things like that. The room had probably changed so much over the years; Lust was flighty and impulsive enough to do something like rearrange her room simply for aesthetic reasons.

As he sat beside Father's chair he heard him murmur something as he read. They were so tantalisingly close to Wrath being made from one of the however remaining Fuhrer candidates now that Father hadn't been sleeping, which Pride was rather concerned about but didn't dare speak a word of aloud. Pride didn't try to catch what Father was talking to himself about. It wasn't any of his business. It was an interesting thought, that any one of the candidates he had seen during his stay at the facility could be his sibling in less than a week's time, being so insignificant before that. Would he even remember who they were, from nothing but fleeting glances during that year and a half fifteen years ago? It wasn't something he thought he should bother with thinking about, the strongest of them would become Wrath, and it would be work of that human concept of 'fate' no doubt. Even so it was nice to think about it. It definitely wouldn't be shy, dozy Number 310. Number 17 had a chance on his athletic prowess alone, but was he capable of any truly wrathful feelings at all if he wasn't bright enough to even find an excuse for them? He didn't know enough about the candidates in the other classes to consider their chances of becoming Wrath.

Father shifted in his chair again, only slightly, it would have been inaudible if Pride wasn't sitting beside the chair, still reading his very sophisticated, very intelligent literature, while Lust still occupied herself with that childish _Black Beauty_, _Through the Looking Glass_,_ Around the World in Eighty Days_, all that immature nonsense.

Pride was rather surprised to say the least as he saw Lust padding into Father's room without Gluttony at her side for once. Her lips were tugged down in her slightly irked frown. She looked tired from boredom, as all of them except Sloth had become with nothing to do but wait for Wrath to join them. She was carrying a soft looking white bundle over her arm, even with her irritated expression there was something…caring about they way she held it, whatever it was.

"I brought what you asked for, Father." Lust bowed in front of Father, and held them out for him, letting him examine it.

"This is suitable to become my new coat for when I visit my potential Wraths, Lust." The bunched up cloth unravelled, until she was holding it by the shoulders. It was a dusty white, its sleeves far too long for its length. Pride tried to convince himself that he didn't realise, that he didn't remember what it was, _whose_ it was, but he did.

Lust glanced down at him, just a simple, unconcerned, but knowing glance, and she shook the robe softly. The rolled up, now black edged violet sash falling out from the bottom. Still, even if he knew Lust had been hoarding it ever since he'd cast it aside, it wasn't like Pride cared anything for his old clothes, the first clothes he'd ever worn, that Father had made just for him…

Well, it was only fitting that the clothes be returned to Father one day. Reforming things into something else was the main concept of alchemy. It was of no use to him anyway. He should appreciate that Father required it again, since it was his once he should have been happy Father requested it, or that Lust _chose_ to offer it to Father. Pride didn't say a word, only watching, he mustn't do anything towards Lust that Father would consider disrespectful, he wouldn't do anything like that ever again, no matter how much she tried to make him do so by irritating him. At least Gluttony wasn't here to make it worse (but even thinking that with Father here was…)

Father took the robe and sash, separating the dust from them with a thought, and moments later they began to flicker with little tiny crackling sparks. They distorted, the sash splitting open and reattaching itself to the robe as it grew and opened up as well, becoming the violet trim it once was. Pride just watched, and forced a smile. This must have been how Father had made them from his coat in the first place; he could hardly remember that far back, so being able to see it now, in the knowledge of how much he had changed for the better since then, he should have appreciated it far more than he did.

When it was over, when it was perfect and Father's again, with its violet trim tinted red now, almost a maroon Father didn't say anything, not to Lust, not to him, he just set the coat down on the side of his chair where it had always been before and went back to reading. Lust just bowed again, not speaking another word before she wandered back to her room, at least she had the sense not to speak to _him_, but even hearing her voice felt strange after so long. It was a stranger thought that he would never wear his old clothes again, not that he had any intention of doing so, but he remembered them, how soft they were, how he had cherished them, how they made sleeping on the floor more comfortable than anything else, how Lust would fuss over him, how she had taught him about snow and they way it had melted and dirtied them. So long ago now, a simpler time, back when he was weak and naïve and of no use to Father at all. Pride shook his head, shuffling closer to Father's chair with a sigh. He mustn't think about things like that. It was foolish to think about such senseless, pathetic things of the past.

0 * 0 * 0

**July 26****th**** 1876**

He was fidgeting, but how could he not? He should have been calm and sensible like the eldest sibling should be, but Father had been away for so long now and the empty feeling of Father not being there was beginning to gnaw at him. The darkness didn't help either, with no Father to keep the place lit with his container's natural illumination Pride had lit several candles around the room, and was currently lying down next to the one closest to Father's chair and table, musing.

At first Pride didn't understand why, when he thought about the facility, and Father's potential Wraths his thoughts immediately were drawn towards that alchemist with the gold tooth. Pride knew that he despised him, more than he felt he had ever despised anyone before. When he thought about him his pooling shadows would spike up and their teeth would clench furiously, but he just couldn't remember _why_ he hated him so much. He could hardly remember anything of the Doctor from the time he had spent at the facility fifteen years before, like some part of him didn't want to remember…something, something important yet so horrible it was better not to…

Hearing the last of the sand run out of Father's hourglass for the twelfth time since he had left Pride carefully flipped it back over, frowning as he wondered when Father would get back. There were sixty-nine candidates remaining when he had left, surely some of them had died between then and now, but even so it could take days before they went through all the remaining candidates to see if they were suitable.

Pride had never really thought about Father's method of creating Wrath before. Father'd explained it once but he'd thought nothing of it, it was what Father had wanted and that was all what was important. Humans used to be so clearly defined as a simple energy source, insects and nothing more than that, but now that Father had been raising a human to receive his Sin, that was rather…peculiar. Though Father would never do anything simply on a whim, so surely he had a purpose for Wrath, and nothing Father did could ever be considered wrong. He knew what he was doing.

Footsteps. Pride bolted upright, and turned towards the growing patch of light as Father stepped in through the corridor. He bowed as should, but his face fell as no one followed Father in through the hallway. Had none of them survived the experiment? How could _none_ of them be suitable, after being trained for so long? Could one of the candidates he'd killed have been one of those suitable? How could he have known? Did Father know about that? What would he do to him for ruining everything…?

Pride crumbled and was shivering by the time he was close enough for him to realise that Father was smiling, well, the minute inclination on his lips that counted as a smile from Father. He calmed himself and stood up straight, forming a smile of his own.

"It is done, Pride. I will introduce Wrath in a moment. Now, it seems as though he has only one soul left within the Stone I provided to him, so you are not to cause him any harm, do you understand, Pride?" Of course, Father would probably never let him forget about his insolence those years before.

"**I would never wish to show disrespect to my siblings, to your other creations, Father."**

"Very good, Pride." Father turned towards where Wrath was waiting. "Come, Wrath." His voice reverberated inside the room, no doubt echoing along the corridor as well. Pride stood at Father's side patiently, though his mind was running on a loop through the possibilities of who it could be. It could have been any of them, even the ones from other classes, and he desperately tried to remember every face and decide who had been perfect even at that time. His memory failed him, and Pride cast aside his groundless guessing and focused completely as Wrath started walk forward towards them.

It was a precise, militaristic walk, something of a stride in parts, much like how they all used to be forced to walk back then. The uniform had changed; he was clad in unsightly loose blue trousers with black boots and an equally loose white shirt. Four strands of black hung down over his forehead-

_Black hair_…

Dread formed a lump in his stomach and erased his smile entirely. Black hair meant…but…maybe the candidate's hair had changed colour due to becoming a homunculus…maybe…

But there were no excuses left when Wrath stood a but few feet away, his determined, cold as ever green eyes looking at Father with his same neutral, unfeeling expression. Replacing one of those eyes was the mark of the Ouroboros. So he really was…

"Pride, this is the twelfth Fuhrer candidate, though you will know him as Wrath from now on. He is your newest and final sibling. " Pride opened his mouth, but no sound came out, and he only nodded stiffly.

Pride was too stunned at seeing Number 12 again to form any expression on his container at all.

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Sorry about being late again, but at least I'm off school after this week so I'll have more time to write x_x


	50. Trying to Bond

Five weeks… That's just how lazy I really am :(

But I'll make it up, now that I'm back I'll update next week and the week after that ^_^ so we'll be back on schedule (…not really…kinda)

I get my A-level results this week, so nervous x_x;

Woah, chapter 50! 5/6th of the way there :O

Oh yeah, don't even ask what happened with the middle part of this chapter, just…don't…because I have no idea what I was doing wasting more than half the chapter on a nothing like that ;;¬_¬ My bad, next chapter will be better, because after this chapter I'm back to working with my plan so I wont be able to go crazy in a bad way like I did here (not sure how I managed to miss planning the whole of chapter 50…but I did).

Preview reviewers:

Ashertye:

I don't think I've heard that saying, but it probably defiantly applies here ^_^ yeah, Pride's usesfulness was never so big anyway, with Wrath here to take Father's attention away it's just looking down for him :(

Violetlight:

Aw, that's alright, moving into a new apartment sounds like it would have been busy as anything. But with

how long I've been away I'm sure you're settling in nicely by now ^^;;

Twas a very priceless face, probably like that one in ep 51, all o_o ^^

Yes yes, those 4 chapters were chapters of doooom, and I'm happy it's over. I went to a bad place thar and I'm glad I can get to something more lighthearted again. But hey, at least we got Wrath out of it now ^^ Oh, no, Envy wouldn't dare go there. Father didn't tell any of them where Pride had gone because of the severity of his punishment, so even if they knew they would dare because Father would probably punish them as well for disobeying him.

You'd think, right? Well, I've got a bunch of stuff planned for my last 10 chapters so I hope I can carry on good enough ^_^

Anne camp:

He so had it coming, given how much he didn't like Number 12 (though only because Number 12 didn't like him). He's definitely not having a good century, and he's not even 300 yet ; )

Velgamidragon:

He just really didn't want it to be Number 12 because of the animosity he held for him, and he so got screwed over, but he'll just have to get used to it :)

Moofy-fan:

Pride reeeaally didn't want it to be Number 12, as if that wasn't obvious XD Now we shall see their many shenanigans for the next few chapters ^^ 

Creepy creepy Pride is creepy, but I think he thought he really deserved it after all the shit he went through at the facility, not to mention blood tastes like Philosopher's stones so he probably felt better after it because of his bloodlust ^^; also he had to put up with creepy goldtooth for 13 days, so he's entitled. At least he managed to repress it though. 

Yay, it was always my plan to factor in Father using his coat to make Pride's first outfit and then remake it as a similar coat with a different coloured trim to meet Wrath (and to show the colour symbolism of Wrath replacing Pride), because I wanted to explain why Father's coat is different between the Xerxes flashback and the Wrath flashback. I think it did upset him that Father used his coat without even thanking him or acknowledging that it was his, but of course he wouldn't say anything.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Fifty: Trying to Bond**

Why?

No, the real question wasn't really why, but how, _how _could this be Wrath? Number 12 was terrible enough as a candidate, tenacious yes, but utterly useless and immature. Pride might have despised Number 12 more than he did the other candidates back then, but that was only a reciprocal hate, given 12's jealously and spite that was only ever directed at him. Pride didn't want to believe it. Not one bit. But how could he deny it when it was staring him in the face as nothing but the truth. Even so how, of all the candidates, how could he be the only one to survive? No, that couldn't be right, 12 would only be twelfth, the ones after Number 12 must have not been tested, Number 12 must have just been _lucky_ enough to be the first one to not die from receiving Father's Wrath.

"Pride, introduce yourself to your brother." Of course. It was only proper for him to be welcoming. Wrath was probably so confused after what had happened, Father would want him to establish something of order in the same way he had met all his previous siblings (but Wrath wasn't like that at all, so how could he be?). But it was what Father wanted so who was he to think otherwise?

"**I**…**It's nice to meet you, Wrath**…**" **Calling Number 12 Wrath was just _wrong_, it felt wrong, it _was _wrong, but Pride couldn't speak out at all, Father would be so disappointed in him if he so much as hinted his unhappiness with his new sibling.** "I am your eldest sibling." **Earlier, with so little light in Father's absence Pride's shadows had been forced to remain inside his container, but now it felt like the only thing Pride could do to show his status among his siblings, to enforce the hierarchy through implication alone. That would be fine; Father would not find that impudent or disrespectful in any way…

The shadows poured out into a considerable pool around him, though it bent into a maintained respectful distance away from Father in a neat puddle. Half a dozen or so of his hands stretched up to ripple and twist lazily in front of Wrath, never touching completely, this was merely a demonstration and nothing more. **"My name is Pride." **He could see it, the slight widening in that still green eye of his, he _knew_, he remembered.

"You…" There was something of contempt hidden beneath the disbelief, and it was only too obvious what would follow. "Y-You're number 316." Father brought his hand up to his beard, an eyebrow twitched only just higher than usual, but Pride noticed it.

"Hm, '316'?"

"**That was the number I was given at the facility, Father." **Father glanced sideways at him, squinting with the same barely noticeable quiver in his eyelid, but Pride shivered and looked away. He shouldn't have spoken without Father's permission; maybe he should have let Wrath answer it himself.

"I see. Continue." Wrath still looked confused, but didn't say anything.

"**Number 316 was naught but an act, Wrath. I was merely observing all the candidates during my stay there to ensure they were developing well, and as**...**you are here now I can see that Father's wish went exactly as planned**.**"** The shadows rippled gently again, and he dragged them closer to him as he stepped forward, offering out his hand. Surely Wrath knew how to do something like that.

"It's nice to meet you again as well, 3- Pride." A nice, firm handshake, but even behind that there was a hate and a barely controllable rage, but he'd never speak out against it, especially not on their first meeting. Pride was sure he would learn to be a loyal, useful homunculus to Father, he shouldn't really have expected anything more from someone who was a human only _hours_ before.

"Pride, show Wrath the rest of our home, and answer any questions he may have clearly. When Lust returns we shall carry out the necessary arrangements for the next part of the plan."

"**Of course, Father." **Pride stepped away, and bowed. Blinking he could see through an eye in his shadow Wrath hesitantly bowing as well. At least he could do that properly. **"Come along, Wrath."**

Outside of Father's main room Pride had little interest in the other rooms, but they all had their own purposes, so it was necessary to show the most important ones to Wrath so that he could familiarise himself with them. He was still in his horribly human daze, looking around at everything like it was _oh so _important and hardly keeping up at all. It didn't even seem like he was listening to him.

"**Wrath, what is so interesting that you insist on constantly glancing around?" **They could go to Father's library next; maybe non-facility related literature would be of some interest to him. There was little to stare aimlessly at besides the stacks of books there as well. Wrath stopped, and timidly turned to face him, he was trying to hide his contempt for him beneath his wariness and politeness. He knew better than to be impudent having seen his shadows, especially if he remembered them from when he was younger, however unlikely that was.

"I can see differently now. Since the experiment, Pride." An enhanced sight was nothing unexpected of as a homunculus, but surely he should have gotten used to that by now after however many hours. "I can see _everything_, even things I'm not looking at."

"**I see. I suppose that is your ability as a homunculus**.** You should be thankful to have received such a thing. I'm sure it will be invaluable during your service in the military on ensuring your survival. I hope that you will be loyal to Father and that you will serve him until he becomes a God**.**"**

"There is no God." It was a simple, almost automatic statement. Of course talk of God had never really been discussed, the facility was ground in what was here and now and utterly real and undeniable. There was no reason for any of them to believe in a God in their isolated world.

"**Precisely, that is why there is nothing to prevent Father from becoming a God**.**"**

"Pride, when will I become Fuhrer?" He was growing so impatient already? But it was still polite and timid and respectful, so Pride would provide him with at least the grace of an answer.

"**Oh, **_**that.**_**" **It was the only thing the candidates were born and raised for, what they strove for, the only reason they had to try to survive. Well, Wrath he may have been now, but that was only by luck, there was nothing to say that he truly deserved it, he was not yet _entitled _to it purely because of his survival.**"Why, you will become the Fuhrer of this county in due course, once you have proven yourself to deserve such a position, Wrath."**

That was the only possible answer.

0 * 0 * 0

**February 19th 1877**

Thirty eight years left. Thirty eight years and yet still only half of the necessary crests of blood were formed. Had Pride not the utmost faith in Father and his influence over the military he would have been concerned that creating the rest would be an impossibility given how long it had taken them to form the first five. Not containing such a treasonous, senseless doubt Pride was confident that the remaining crests would form themselves soon enough, causing enough destruction every seven or so years would be sufficient, they just needed to push this new-ish (thirteen years was new enough) Fuhrer harder than they had the others, not be lax and allow him to ignore their obligations as his predecessors had.

But that could wait for now. Wrath was to remedy that issue soon enough when he became the Fuhrer he was raised to be. Though even that took time they didn't have the public would be far too suspicious if Wrath suddenly appeared as the new Fuhrer. No, he didn't even deserve that, he may have been the first candidate to survive being given a Philosopher's Stone, but that gave him no right to be entitled to the position of Fuhrer so effortlessly. He would need to work for it – albeit through cheating with his superiority of being a homunculus now – and prove that he had been the correct recipient of Father's Wrath.

Through Father combining both issues Pride once again found himself alone. Wrath had been sent off to fight at Pendleton in the West. It would be a slow crest formation there, Creta was too stubborn to give up and finish serving their purpose, and instead little battles and bloodshed scattered across the district would create it over time. Getting Wrath into the military was easy enough under his Lust-acquaintance forged records of his place of birth, his parents and his name. Pride thought 'King Bradley' was a horribly garish human kind of name, and besides, why remind the public of the monarchy with such a first name, a monarchy that had spectacularly _failed?_ Still, the transition from a number to a noun-name like the rest of them was good enough; it might as well bleed through to his human name too. Through a corrupt General's reference he had joined the military under a slightly less shameful position than Private in favour of something called a Corporal that Pride didn't care to learn anything more about.

But he'd left two months ago, and Pride had grown used to him not always being _there_, hovering around him like Gluttony did with Lust like he didn't know what to do with himself. It was like he wasn't even grateful that he had been given the opportunity to become a homunculus. Well, once he observed his own superiority over his comrades on the battlefield he would come to appreciate it.

"C'mon Pride, what kind of animals are we looking for?" For now though, until he returned, Father had other requirements of him, which today entailed abiding his other siblings- "Father must have told you _something_ about what he wanted." – At least for now it was just Envy he had to deal with.

Pride kicked his legs a little, watching idly as his brother fidgeted around him, hopping around on the balls of his feet, balancing along the edge of the fountain beside him in the most undignified manner for the refined, high class appearance he had taken to accompany him.

"_No_, Envy, he did not, because he trusts our judgment, and knows that the animals that we select will be a suitable base for creating more chimeras in the future." Through his reflection in the water Pride flicked an out of place hair aside. There was no reason for him to be anything less than impeccable even if Envy insisted on being so immature and impatient. If he'd taken any other form that tried to convince anyone he was trying to be over the age of twenty Pride might have feared they were being too conspicuous, so at least Envy knew what age to play when not being serious, which should have been always given his inability to be anything other than such.

"But we aren't doing _anything_." Under Pride's promise to Father to be respectful to his siblings Envy had slowly been growing bolder in his playful and irritating attempts to show him up, never to the point that Pride would consider breaking his promise, but enough for him to notice. "This ain't looking for animals!" He couldn't be as weak willed as to grace his younger sibling with a reaction to his marginal rudeness, and continued assessing his appearance without giving him a glance, tie a tad askew, another stray hair here and there. They were all easily fixed. "I'm _bored_, Pride, let's go somewhere." Pride didn't really see the point of the fountain, outside of it being purely decorative to emphasise Central as the grand, illustrious city it was. With the new sewer system it was absurd to think that people actually used it to drink from, no human could be _that _desperate. Whether that was its original purpose or not it was unusable as such now. Through the clear, treated water of the fountain its crystal hue was stained a shiny, translucent bronze, the copper of the ten cenz coins glittering up from the floor. Not to mention the melting white spots spread over the surface. It was rather nice to see snow again, and with his custom clothes there was no possibility of the cold affecting him, if there was in the first place. At least snow was just water, but humans wouldn't be able to appreciate a metal lined taste anyway. How strange that they'd throw money away so easily given the atrocious state of the economy. Pride knew that the necessary war, and the wars that were sure to follow would ensure that it was only going to get worse, until the thousand cenz he'd paid for that horse wouldn't be able to pay for even the most trivial of things. It didn't really matter though; they were provided with more money than they would ever need from the government.

A ripple ran along the water, distorting his perfect reflection, as Envy leant over the edge of the fountain and scooped up a few coins, his jacket's sleeve rolled up past his elbow (at least he had grown used to the cold and wasn't shaming himself by wearing Lust's gaudy winter coat). His still unnecessarily long hair even in his guise as a human, though pulled back into a respectable ponytail, dipped into the water at the tip and he pushed himself lower. At this rate his 'definitely posh' spectacles would end up likewise from their perch at the tip of his nose. Pride sat up straighter and quirked an eyebrow.

"What are you doing, Envy?"

"Well, does Father want us to pick up strays?"

"No, producing emaciated chimeras would not be of any use to Father in 'discouraging' humans from prying too close. We will be purchasing suitable, _healthy _animals as bases for the chimeras." That was the only sensible possibility, for the first chimeras at least, until the scientists became more adept at creating them without Father's guidance.

"Then we'll need all the cenz we can get! There'll be enough in here if we get them all and don't get caught. The humans are stupid enough to throw them in here, so why not?"

"We are _not_ stealing the cenz in the fountain, and we certainly aren't _paying _in ten cenz coins either. If you are attempting to present yourself as someone sophisticated you would not be seen _scrounging _from the drinking fountain. How shameful, that at over a century old you are still incapable of understanding proper human…" Pride caught himself, he mustn't chastise his siblings to excess, he wouldn't dare. If Envy told Father about it then… "Never mind. Father has provided me with the correct amount of cenz, so your stealing is unnecessary." But even with his restraint, his tolerance for Envy was wearing rather thin. Envy sighed and dropped the coins he'd collected, a dozen or so quiet _plops_ sounding one after the other. "I believe he would prefer us to buy one each, so it would be easier for us to split up." He didn't seem to notice his previous hesitation, and was still busy throwing the cenz back into the water, pulling his sleeve down (but even they were fake) to wipe his arm dry. "We shall meet back here in an hour. I'm sure I can trust you to not get lost in the snow and come back here on time, right, Envy?" A smile pulled at his mouth his offer of giving him some independence for a while, making his usual devilishly mischievous Envy-smile that barley looked normal on his actual face never mind when he was acting.

"Of course you can, I'll bring back the best animal ever!" It was like Envy actually _liked_ animals or something. Well, the feeling would never be mutual on their part, so he could have his foolish ideas if he wanted.

"I don't think creatures lower than even _humans_ can be assigned a worth, Envy." Pride tsked as he leafed through the thin 1000 cenz notes that Father had given him to buy the chimera bases, handing Envy five for equality's (but really only Father's) sake.

"Right, well, y'know. See you in an hour, Pride." And he dashed away, that inappropriate smile still stretching to both ears, kicking up the blanket of snow as he went until it was clinging in a fine white powder to his fake coattails. Given his actual size Pride was more surprised he wasn't making dents in the street with each bounding step, he must've learned how to control his weight, which he was thankful for. Goodness knows Envy didn't need any more things drawing unneeded attention to himself.

The slow, uneventful stroll to the marketplace was as interesting as Pride had anticipated it being, though it was somewhat less tedious than it could have been. For one the snow was slowing, even though his bowtie was almost patterned polka-dot with how much snow had been falling over his clothes, but a simple brush of his hand easily remedied that. The snow had discouraged most of the humans from leaving their homes, and it was at that beginning to thaw stage that prevented human children from creating a mess with it, so it could have been worse. Pride's shadow, not his true shadow, but the grey, pale, human imitation of it, was smaller than usual, the sun trapped behind the thick but pure white snow clouds, keeping it flat and ordinary and even smaller than his container's height, wrapped close to his heels. He didn't think anything of it really; his true shadow would sit awkwardly in its liquid pool over the snow, and it wouldn't be worth the possibility of a human catching sight of it (the only time that was ever appropriate was when they were tearing them apart).

Once he finally reached the small corner of the marketplace (and this marketplace itself was an uncultured little blob on the grandeur of Central, unbecoming of both him and his high-class act) he was looking for it went as well as he had expected. Underneath the constant growls and squeaks and squawks of the countless creatures lined along the stalls as he began to wonder the other humans noticed nothing amiss. To him however, the change was as obvious as it was instantaneous. Pride might have expected as much, but animals, cowardly creatures they were, would much rather run away than interact with homunculi, but here, where they were confined by their owners, leashed or otherwise, what could they do? Would they have the _audacity_ to even attempt to lash out at him? It was probably putting too much faith in the humans to have correctly disciplined their possessions into suitable obedience, but to the point that they would let them harm what was to them a perfectly normal child? Oh, the scandal that would cause, especially given his refined taste in clothes, they could easily find him to be related to someone and it would only escalate from there.

But knowing that such would be counterproductive to what he was here for Pride pushed the thought away, and ambled along the different stands and pens. A white cat covered with patches of brown and black fur was hissing at him, claws showing and flashing its teeth, all the fur on its back stuck up like thousands of tiny thorns. Pride recognised the posture from that Mister Darwin's book; he said that, like humans, animals had a number of behavioural poses to show how they felt, though even without that its aggression was palpable. How arrogant a feline, did it believe it was capable of standing a chance against him? Such defiance was _not _a desired trait in Father's chimeras, so Pride merely scowled at it and carried on. Locked in a small, tight wire cage was what looked like a scrunched up ball of coarse black fur, huddled in the corner, twitching a little. Pride's first thought was that it was a hedgehog, and curious he looked closer. A hedgehog could be useful, all those sharp spines that he'd heard about to protect itself, were they detachable, _could_ _they be_, with Father's alchemy? The black ball dragged itself forward, revealing itself to be just an overgrown, overly furry rat. Only the glinting white of its two rodent teeth was visible beneath the quivering black mess. The curious smile that had started to worm its way onto his face dropped in an instant. They had used rats before, and that was a terribly futile venture, so using one again would only be foolish. It was probably crawling with fleas too, with how much it was twitching, unless that was its own interpretation of how to shiver in fear properly, and if it couldn't muster so much as that then there was no hope for it anyway.

On another table was a strange, plump but somehow still elegant looking bird, with a snow white face and soft black eyes that couldn't move, but its head swiveled about with ease like its neck was nonexistent. It flapped its burnt looking brown wings at him, to size him up and try to intimidate him with its aggression or perhaps was trying to fly from its perch, but its legs were tied down with thin lines of metal, biting into its legs and talons. Wings would probably only hinder whatever animal it would be combined with anyway. Pride didn't know how he would be able to carry it back to Father anyway, given how eager it was to escape (or did it want that anyway, even without his presence disturbing everything?). This one wouldn't do either.

Pride passed the rabbit by after the first glance. It was just being lazy and lying down, twitching its nose in his general direction to show how afraid it should have been. Rabbits had no positive combinable traits anyway, it was no wonder foxes chose to hunt them with how useless they were at surviving. A fox, that seemed like a good base, why weren't they selling any of _those?_ But what were foxes, biology wise? What was similar?

Something whimpered, a very weak, hardly audible whimper beneath the racket of the marketplace, but Pride zeroed in on it, pinpointed its location behind him, turning on his heels with an inquisitive 'hm?'

The something was shivering underneath one of the cloths draped over the table that was serving as this particular stall, a shiny black nose poking out. Pride pottered over to it with tiny tiptoeing steps, stopping once or twice when someone strode in front of him or rudely pushed past him. Such ignorance was expected. The nose was still peeking out when he reached it, and he melted into his feigned curiosity, bending at the knee to lift the cloth up.

"Hello there." Pride let himself smile, from Mr. Darwin's books it said that all creatures except humans bared their teeth when showing aggression, or rather asserting their dominance over others, so it was only appropriate that he smile at the terrified thing. It inched backwards nervously, one of its white tipped paws raised, but it was flopped down in submission, its long black claws low and harmless. The fear shone in its bright amber eyes, but it was far too afraid to even look at him properly, blinking quickly, half closed. A sensible canine, knowing better than to defy him. "Good dog."

"You like greyhounds, then?" At the sudden, but pleasant enough voice above him Pride raised his head. A somewhat stocky man smiled down at him.

"I've never seen one before. What's its name?" There was a shuffle as the dog stepped further back.

"That lad's called Quill. He's my dog, usually dead friendly too, not sure what's spooked him." Quill cowered behind his owner's legs pathetically, tail still wagging slowly, ears still pinned back against his head. Even with its squinted eyes Pride could tell it was still staring at him.

"That's alright. I'm sure he's really nice." For the sake of his act he stepped close to pet it, but the dog only tensed further. But its posture changed, its tongue, that had been sagging out slightly, darted back inside and its whimper deepened into a growl. Why was behaving differently? Did it think he wished harm on its owner? How presumptuous of it, but that wish to protect him, even though it was so afraid of him it would risk its life for the human…

That could be interesting.

But for now keeping up his act was key, and Pride snatched his hand back with an uncertain whine. "It's growling. W-will it bite me?" The human laughed at the very idea.

"Nah, Quill's a big softy, can't even chase a hare at coursin'." He seemed streamlined enough to run, with its thin, light silvery-grey frame. "I tried though, last autumn I tried ter start racing using a fake hare, y'know? See if he'd chase that instead, me 'n' five of m' friends set up the course at Kanama." Pride didn't know where that was, but it was most likely outside of where he could travel so it didn't matter. "Lots o' people watched, but that was it really. Wished it'd caught on, but I guess now's just not the right time. So now I want Quill to go to a good home, I'm sure he's had enough of me pushing him to do what he doesn't want." He looked sad almost, but if he really cared about the dog then he wouldn't be selling it. As if humans could care about things that weren't themselves.

"Aw, well, I'm sure he's a wonderful dog; I'd love to have a dog like that! H-how much does he…?" Already anticipating a horrible price Pride dug into his pocket and grabbed the whole 5000 cenz. This Quill seemed like a decent animal to make into a chimera, it could easily be altered to defend Father's lair, which would soon be its only purpose.

"All I want is that you'll take care of him. I can't accept any price, you can have him. You look like a good kid, so I know he'll be well looked after, and that's all what matters really." Pride's smile almost widened at the offer to being given the dog for nothing, but then it occurred to him that the human was taking pity him and only giving it to him out of _charity_, and he certainly was not in such a position to require such shameful charity. He reacted accordingly to the insult, though it was wrapped and contorted to suit his façade.

"No, I can't do that. It must've cost you lots of cenz to pay for this stall for today. I can't just not pay you anything! Father won't like it, he'll think I've picked up a stray or something, and that won't do, he'll get angry at me. Please, let me pay _something_." Through his theatrics the human had been putting a leather collar around the dog's neck, and looped a rope lead around that.

"If you insist. How about…two thousand cenz?" Pride shook his head in a firm _not high enough. _"Three thousand?" That was better, and he handed him the three notes, his smile returning.

"Thank you." Pride wrapped the lead tight around his wrist; hopefully the timid beast would know its place and not do anything unwise. Being required to restrain it was not something Pride wanted to resort to, especially since it would require having to drag it to somewhere remote first.

Now, how to go about walking back to the fountain…

Quill whined again, trying to pull away, and out of sight of its owner Pride glowered at it.

"If you behave and keep yourself to yourself there will be no need for me to take any unnecessary measures." Before the threat had even bled into his voice the nervous canine shrank away, raising its paw again and began to walk at a calmer, though still apprehensive pace at his side. At least the snow had stopped so he wouldn't have to clean the dog when he got it home.

Envy was sitting on the edge of the fountain, looking extremely dazed even from this distance, and he didn't even notice he was there until Pride had sat at his side and grew exasperated enough to tug on his ponytail. Even then he only turned marginally, his eyes unfocused.

"Oh…hey there Pride…" his lethargic gaze fell sideways. "Oh wow you got a dog! What did ya call it?"

"Its previous owner called it Quill. It doesn't need a name anymore."

"That's cool, not as cool as what _I _bought, but you know…" He whistled low at the apparent quality of his purchase.

"And what _did_ you buy?" Pride already had an idea of it, but he wanted to see how boastful Envy could get about it. No doubt he'd visited the most depraved, disgusting parts of Central to purchase such an unusual animal.

"Right, I told ya I'd get the _bestest_ thing ever." Finally he turned to face him. "It was so cheap too! Look!" It was lying on his arm, a large, fat green reptile, with a thin spiked frill running down its spine. There were rings of a darker green spaced equally along the tail that made up half of its length and a smudge of pink faded into a peculiar blue around its mouth. Its forked tongue flicked out as its claws lightly scraped over Envy's artificial sleeve, though it was only lazily flexing its deformed (in comparison to what Pride considered normal) limbs, nothing of anxiousness there at all. It didn't look afraid in the slightest with its empty gold eyes wandering aimlessly between himself and Envy.

"You bought a lizard, Envy."

"This isn't just any lizard – it's a Xingese water dragon, a _dragon, _Pride."

"It's not a _real_ dragon, Envy, they don't exist. How much did it cost?"

"Oh…um …5000 cenz." The way Envy's already wide, clouded eyes darted about before answering didn't help convince him at all. Pride raised his eyebrow with a slight inclination of his head.

"I thought you said it was_ 'cheap'_."

"W-Well…cheap, f-for a lizard, I meant." Pride resisted the urge to roll his eyes. No doubt Envy had been abusing his inability to discipline him and squandered the rest of the cenz on something idiotic and human and, from the way Envy was acting, illegal. But trying to interrogate him further on it would be pointless. "Um…besides, look at how relaxed it is, it'll be perfect for making sure the chimera likes homunculi. I bet Father'll really like it" The lizard's peculiar behaviour was unexpected, but to have no fear of them should have been impossible. Could it not sense them somehow? Unless…

"Reptiles are cold blooded. It is afraid of you; it's just so cold that it cannot move properly." It was the only suitable explanation for why it was so laid back even when lying on Envy's arm.

"I know that Pride, I'm keeping it warm. Feel how warm it is." Going along with Envy's belief that the lizard was completely tame Pride stretched his container's hand out towards it, and that bright pink tongue brushed against his finger, sticking there. No sooner had it done so that a shiver shot through it, and its tongue snapped back into its mouth, it trying to gnaw at his container with its sharp little teeth. Pride gave it a lopsided smirk at its futile attempts, and realising its mistake it clambered up along Envy's shoulder, past his neck until it settled again in a lump on the other arm, still flicking its tongue at him.

"Oh, well, it fears _me,_ clearly. Either it is too stupid to see the threat we pose to it, or…" Pride directed the smirk solely up at Envy now. "It thinks it is superior to you. It doesn't find you enough of a threat to even _react _to you, Envy."

"No, that can't be right." He lifted it away from him, holding it under its arms and staring at it, looking rather hurt, but it was surely put on (or so Pride hoped). "Scaly wouldn't do that to me. He knows better."

"You've given it a _name_?" As he glared at it that strange haze started clearing from his eyes, and they took on Envy's usual keen magenta behind his glasses (was he that irresponsible that he'd forgotten to keep them green?). Envy just ignored his question entirely.

"Stupid thing, being so disrespectful to me, _me, _Envy!" He shook it for good measure. "Scaly little insect, I hate you." Still the scaled green blob did little outside of opening its mouth a fraction or curling its tail. Pride patted at Quill's head to keep it still, its ears had flattened even lower than Pride thought possible at Envy's exasperated ramblings at the indifferent reptile.

"_Envy, _leave it be. It matters not if it is arrogant, this dog is submissive to homunculi, so Father can condition the chimera to be obedient when it is made using the dog's temperament." The lizard squirmed out from Envy's grasp, and fell with a thud in his lap, but it was still too conceited to even attempt to flee. Envy just huffed and let it climb back up to his elbow.

"Fine. Can we go home now? I want to see what the chimera looks like when it's finished. Not to mention I can stop looking like a right toff like you and get back to my normal, _beautiful _self."

"Quite, Father will be expecting us." Dragging Quill along with him Pride hopped off the fountain without waiting for Envy to catch up. It didn't take long for him to do so anyway, even with the overweight, arrogant reptile in his arms. They'd got the animals, now they could go home, it couldn't be simpler. Envy might have been tolerable as far as his siblings went, but tolerance only went so far, and Pride was quite sure he'd had enough of Envy today to last at least a century.

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**August 30th 1877**

"What happened to the chimera after that?" Wrath's curiosity about what his siblings, his siblings of _higher rank and importance_, had been up to in his absence perplexed Pride, whether that was Wrath trying to become closer to them and understand them, or was scrutinising them he couldn't be sure. But whatever it was Pride was required to endure it and fulfil his obligations to Father. He had instructed him to continue to ease Wrath into his life as a homunculus, and Pride was determined to do exactly that, whether he truly accepted Wrath as one yet or not. Just coming out of a stay at Pendleton Pride hoped that Wrath's military training at the facility was up to an acceptable standard, so sparring was the only option to occupy his time to ensure he remained sharp.

"**Exactly what was intended of it, Wrath." **Pride's left hand pulling away, the shadows tightened over his wrist and the sword's hilt and swiped the blade across Wrath's front. Hopefully Wrath would have the sense to actually _dodge, _not like the Number 12 of those years ago. _Clang. _The metal smashed together as Wrath retaliated without hesitation. Just like Pride thought, 12 was never cowardly when he had a weapon. It would be much too boring otherwise.** "Envy took it to the third laboratory for analysis, and the alchemic scientists there are gathering corrupt alchemists that specialise in biology to create other kinds of chimeras, until we have a sufficient number to populate the sewer system."** Pride remembered the chimera with the tiniest speck of fondness. It had been ideal, with its well camouflaged, slate grey scales tinted a mossy green and covering most of its body, the bright yellow of their combined eye colour had formed into an eerie, but effective glow, pupils, irises, sclera- all yellow, undistinguishable from each other. Any remnant of the water dragon's conceit had been erased, until it feared them to a point that it became loyal, and part of the loyalty Quill had held for his owner manifested as a want to protect Father's lair from unwanted humans. **"It must have changed a great deal since you were there now, after being 'under construction' for twenty four years we could not afford to wait any longer once the experiment was complete to finally open it for 'real' research to take place.** " Envy hadn't seen anything of worth when he had visited the laboratory to deliver the chimera on Father's behalf (part of Pride absolutely refused to let himself return for a reason that escaped him, he just couldn't…he could never go back there…), excepting an intern called Timothy-something that barely looked a day over sixteen and _insisted_ on asking him many increasingly irksome questions that he was not privy to know the answers too, most regarding the box containing the sleeping chimera. Pride was just relieved that Envy had managed to control himself in his charade as a scientist and avoided doing something very rash and idiotic.

"That's hard to believe. Nothing changed after you left." What a stupid statement. Still, Wrath was young, he had far more leeway than Pride. He was allowed to know less for now…

"**Its purpose was entirely different back then. It had exhausted that purpose when you were 'born', we had planned its new function since before the laboratory even began construction. Is that not the whole principle of alchemy, to recreate things to serve a new purpose? The same alchemy that Father graciously used to elevate you from those shameful human origins you were born into." **Stupid or not, Pride wouldn't let him become complacent with his swordsmanship, gripping his sword with two hands, and two of his shadows hands moulded around them, their strength completely focused on directing the sword rather than doing the slicing themselves (not worth the risk with Wrath being so young) and lunging closer with vicious little swipes, which Wrath only ever blocked with his own sword.** "You should be grateful, Wrath, that you were liberated from that pathetic human body." **Sparring aside Pride wouldn't dare try and harm Wrath, shadows or otherwise. Father wouldn't hear of it, that was certain. That wasn't to say he wasn't at least trying though, being outshone by his _younger _brother who had only been a homunculus for just over a year would be far too degrading to allow. **"Though you only have one soul left in your Stone, so you can be wounded all the same. You will need to be careful, Wrath, we cannot have you dying any time soon, especially not before you become Fuhrer of this country, just as the facility promised all of you since the moment you were old enough to understa-" **Pride hardly had the time to even react as Wrath was suddenly looming over him, and the blade of the sword rushed past his ear. The shadow burst from the floor and constricted around it instantly, holding it in place, but not so hard that it would damage it.

"**Attempting to strike me while we're having a nice discussion, Wrath? That is terribly bad form." **Pride hissed and shook his head in disdain.

"Thinking about good form is bad form. Besides, there is no concept of form in war."

"**That may be the case, but in your sparring practice within the military I doubt they will respect you if you have no concept of good form, which won't help you if you want to be promoted."** He looked over at the space a ways off where they'd left their jackets so as to not damage them during their little sword fight. While Pride had folded it neatly on the floor Wrath had _stabbed his spare sword into the floor _and had slung it on the end. He had held his tongue for the sake of decency, and just hoped that Father wouldn't notice the hole in one of the spare rooms. Pride supposed he hadn't been doing _too _badly, after his first trip to the front lines he'd come back with a nice medal and a new position as a Sergeant Major, which judging by the two extra stars either side running along his jacket's shoulders, was a start at least. **"And you **_**will**_** need to be promoted if you want to achieve anything. We won't pamper you; you must show your capability to become a valued part of the military even without our interference, at first anyway**.**" **Wrath just tugged at his sword lodged in the shadow, trying to pull it out so they could continue sparring as if he wasn't being a stubborn, ignorant ingrate. **"Do not be difficult or insolent to Father by not desiring such, to serve Father is the greatest honour, and all you should ever desire." **Pride let the sword go with but a thought, and Wrath almost tripped over himself at the recoil, trying to pass it off as just a slight misstep.

"Back then, I always knew you weren't really one of us."

"**No, you didn't, Wrath. My act was perfect in every way. You only thought me unusual then because of what the candidates of Class 2 believed me to be, the something revolting and nonsensical that they accused me of doing." **There was something, there was definitely something, but for the life of him Pride just couldn't remember what it was**, **but he doubted he ever knew what it was. That didn't stop him from knowing that it was completely untrue though. **"There was no unity among you anyway; you were raised to despise each other, as you should have been."**

Wrath shook his head, looking so sure. "No, I saw the ferocity in you, when you killed Number 22."

"**You mean when I **_**injured **_**Number 22," **Pride smirked a little as he effortlessly blocked Wrath's sword with his own.** "what I did to Number 22 didn't kill him." **He wasn't _lying_, technically speaking Number 22 had never died, but Wrath didn't need to know that, he could keep guessing.

"So the doctors said. That Number 22 died from his injuries."

"**I know that. It wasn't the same without him there really, but there was one who looked like Number 22…Number 216?"**

"I killed Number 216, sword fighting when I was eighteen." How apt, but unnecessary, his pursuits in the facility were no longer of any importance.

"**I see. Well, you should have no qualms killing again when you get sent on another military trip to wherever to fight then. Surely since you are Father's Wrath you would relish in such behaviour, do you not?" **Wrath didn't answer. A few minutes passed, silent except from the many metallic clangs of metal clashing, neither of them willing for any attempt to strike them to make contact of any sort. Pride wasn't really sure whether he was trying or not, but that look was there again, that doubtful, hateful look that tethered Wrath to the past and saw him as nothing but _316 316 316. _And how dare he, Pride had enough self control to see past that, he was better than to regard Wrath as merely Number 12 and nothing beyond that.

"**When I was at the facility sword fighting taught me a lot about how I could manipulate my shadows in more efficient ways, could cut and slash and make much cleaner incisions."**

"But why did you stay at the facility at all, for so long?" As their blades collided for probably the hundredth time the shadows threaded along the length of it, wrapping around Wrath's for a second time to hold it in place, and Pride glared up with an irked tsk.

_As if he could say the _real _reason…_

"**I told you before Wrath, I was observing all of you on Father's orders. I will ask you to not make any more inane queries more than once."**

"Why did you have your own room then?" The fact that he was provided with one was not a suitable answer, what was a more suitable _excuse_ instead…

"**It would have been most improper for me to suddenly introduce myself and take to sleeping in the dormitories. I did not wish to impose on every part of the candidates' lifestyle in my observations."**

"Having your own room must have been nice." Why was Wrath glaring? "Privacy, the Doctor to wake you up everyday…" The Doctor? Who was…? Pride knew someone called that, but he just couldn't properly… "I bet you had your own lock for it and everything. You must have used it all the time, just to keep him out." He had no lock on his door…why was Wrath asking such stupid…

That part of his mind cracked again, and something began to leak out, just a trickle, the tiniest trickle…

…_The Doctor gives Number 316 lots of nice things…_

…_He's still wearing his uniform…_

…_That's why you have your own room. The Doctor just likes you_ that_ much…_

Then it was a torrent.

_What are you doing?_

_whatFatherwants_

_Stop that_

_Fatherwants_

_Stop it_

_Father…_

_Stop_

_Ideserveit_

_Pain_

_Pain_

_Pain_

_Stop_

_Stop_

_PAIN_

…_Stop!_

_PLEASE, STOP!_

_Please…_

The shadows had all faded away. How did he get here? Did he collapse? How shameful could he get, with Wrath watching? Wrath, this was all Wrath's fault! How could he, why did he make him remember _that_, all of _that_?! How did he even _know_? No one should have known about that. Unless…

Pride looked up through his blurry, hazed over eyes (Not tears, not tears at all, forget all about that just then, it can all go away again and you'll be happy…), Wrath was just standing there, probably sneering at him from up there.

And yet, Wrath sat down too, looking at him with much softer eyes, with no spite or hate or childish jealousy. There was something…sad there, but for himself as well. Pride didn't understand. _Did he also…? Was he…?_

There must have been something on his face that gave it away, and Wrath gave a curt, but definite nod that answered every question without a word.

"**I…I'm fine, Wrath**.**" **It didn't matter whether he was lying or not, he still mustered a minute smile. **"I only fell, please do not think you can rest on my account."** At least now, they had a common ground on which to stand, well, to build the true hierarchy off from.

And what a wretched, shameful common ground it was.

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Phew, never thought I'd get this written ^^;

At least Pride and Wrath have a reluctant respect for each other now ^^

I'm sorry the Envy and Pride scene ran on for so long as well, I guess I wanted to wrap up the chimera thing and have something a little more lighthearted too ^^;

Except next chapter sooner, like, next week ^^


	51. Snapshots and Scattered Pictures

Wow I actually managed to get a chapter out on time. This chapter is freaking _long_, like, longer than last chapter and I have no idea how it got so long, seriously. : O Also, it's filler :P

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-Fan:

I'm glad you liked the Pride and Envy scene even if it did get out of hand ^^; Ooh…no, it wasn't the chimera. I meant a person, sorry about that ^^;

Of course Pride has to try and make excuses about why 12 ended up being Wrath, he just couldn't accept it right out, that would be too easy XD Yes, his trauma didn't help matters either ;_;

Phew, I'm happy that Wrath came across as ok here, hopefully I can keep that up ^_^

Anne Camp:

Yay, I'm glad I'm getting better at actually using teh power of the full stop ^_^ Hopefully I can keep it that way.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Fifty-One: Snapshots and Scattered Pictures**

**September 7****th**** 1877**

Pride had never cared much for public transport of any kind, if humans were lazy enough to not want to walk wherever they wanted to go then they didn't deserve to be able to move any long distances from where they were born. They were so spoiled that way, the alchemy Father had given them had unlocked countless amenities to them that they never would have discovered or invented otherwise. Though he knew his siblings must have employed its use one time or another during their excursions to cause havoc or ensure other parts of the country were in check that was merely using what was at their disposal for the better. Why should they waste energy walking so far if humans were all too happy to make things easier for them? Horse carriages were excepted in that of course, horses were just among the animals that humans had enslaved to make use of. Father had spoke of them existing even when he was with Van Hohenheim in Xerxes, so it was nothing Father had given to them and so nothing was amiss there.

Trains, however, were another matter entirely, for those who didn't feel the need to buy horses to travel they would simply throw money at the government to pay for a short trip to elsewhere and hop onto the bulky hollow cases of twisted metal on wheels. It was senseless anyway, where else could they go- people moving into Central he could understand, but moving _away?_ Why would they wish to leave the thriving capital city, where all of advanced technology was created? Pride regarded it as a mere passing trend with the populace, in his almost two hundred and ninety years of experience trains were a rather late development, being only opened to the public half a century or so before. People were probably just still interested in their _wonderful_ new invention and were abusing it any way they could before the novelty wore off. Whether useful to his siblings or not (and Wrath had been very intricate in detailing the condition of the train he had been sent to and from Pendleton in), they were still a superfluous mess, and the thought that he merely didn't like them because of the fact that he could never travel in one anywhere because of his barrier was absurd at best and more than insulting at worst.

Of course, his necessary requirements to monitor the city in the utmost detail when appropriate had brought him to the space outside Central's train station. It seemed they were irresponsible to the point that they had neglected to make enough trains to efficiently carry the population of Central wherever in their _oh so busy lives_. Much like he expected they had wrapped it up under the ambiguous nothing of a train opening to commemorate something or other to disguise their inadequacy.

The walk to the train station wasn't as uneventful as his other trips upstairs in recent years, and at this rate the only way it could have been even worse was if it was raining. Pride had heard about the new craze of families travelling together during the summer for a week or so, to get away from the city and relax in the countryside or something. He didn't understand it, and it wasn't the time of year for such things, and more than anything he was glad that it wasn't, it would be more than unbearable than ever if he had to endure that in addition to how it _already was._ All pushing and shoving and never before had Pride thought that the streets of Central could be too narrow. Another briefcase smashed into the back of his head as what should have been a patient sophisticated human rushed past him and continued on to try and force his way further up the busy street (business trip no doubt, but why was he so late for his train to warrant being in such a hurry was a different matter, how irresponsible).

When he traversed the other, less crowded areas (or more the just not completely cramped areas) of Central often people would be concerned over him, asking if he was lost or where his parents where, no such luck here, Pride very much doubted they even knew he was scurrying about around their waists they were so ignorant. By the time they were threatening to push him over with every step he just opted to weave in between them in whatever space he could squeeze into. Their apathy towards him was unusual, and given how they were treating him it was not the most welcome change, but it was nothing he couldn't endure- he'd the there soon enough anyway.

Eventually the crowd became more bearable, most of them streaming away towards the main train station, while a few carried on with him to the small patch of land away from it. Of course, if this was such an important event it should have been obvious that some people with less important things to attend to would be there to watch the unveiling of the new locomotive. It may have been understandable, but that didn't mean Pride couldn't despise how they clung to and hovered around him and generally tried to suffocate him (not that he would ever admit his slight claustrophobia, if he was even aware of it himself).

He wasted no time pushing himself forward to the front of the now gossiping, excited group, and hurried beyond it to where the rail engineers and military personnel would be expecting him. There was no doubt about whether they would be expecting him or not, one of his siblings had been preparing for this, had pulled strings and spun their web of lies to convince anyone of his supposed relations.

_General so-and-so's nephew reaaally likes trains, and he wants to see the new one before it gets on the track if you don't mind. What, you didn't know about General so-and-so? Well, you wouldn't, would you? The military's a big place and you're just a private/warrant officer/corporal/lieutenant colonel…_

It was all too simple really.

There was a distinct lack of blue military uniforms around the boundaries of the event, how strange, maybe they'd all come in casual wear for it instead? It wasn't important, even if it made it difficult to tell the workers and the military personnel apart they would still be expecting him, so it didn't change anything if they weren't wearing their uniforms.

Now that he was finally out of the crowd his irritation waned somewhat, and he drifted seamlessly back into his act, a slight, for the most part unnoticeable bounce melting into his quick, excited little steps. All feigned of course, he couldn't care less about the probable eyesore of a machine, but if it was what the public wanted they could have it all they liked. It was covered up with a large white cloth by the looks of it for now, like they were so ashamed of it that they wanted to keep it hidden until they absolutely _needed_ to unveil it lest people stop caring. A low hum floated along on the wind with the rail workers and the military's many conversations blending into one unintelligible mess that Pride made no attempt to try to or had any desire to understand. They were probably too caught up with whatever pointless things they were discussing to notice him anyway, and his lips pursed a tad at their ignorance to what to them could possibly be the most important person there as far as presumed family ties went. Having no better use for his time until the photographer was set up Pride wandered around aimlessly, trying to find someone, anyone who was alone too, not because he felt like talking to anyone, he merely wished to find out where he was standing on the photograph. Of course that was all he wanted…

Someone was there, by himself, the white cloth covering the train up over his head and flopping down over the sides like a ridiculous oversized hat. He must have been fixing something, or checking to see if it was still ok. They were probably that paranoid about the condition of their ever so important steam engine. He would do for now. Trying to not draw too much attention to himself Pride inched his way over and tugged gently on the man's short coattails.

"H-Hello." If he was supposed to be here on their good grace then shy was the best approach, and he lowered his head a fraction as the human turned around. He was about as tall as Pride had come to consider all human males, but at the moment Pride only reached about his knees as he stood on a small set of steps to reach whatever he was messing with on the train. The man looked confused for a moment, but smiled and leant down to get a better look at him, hands on his knees.

"Hey there, you must be that General's nephew, right?" The human reached lower to pat at his head sociably, and Pride, as he was supposed to, loosed a childish giggle at the affection as he nodded genially. "We knew you'd be here soon. I hear you're excited to see the train, right? Well, it won't be long now, so don't you worry, ok?" Before Pride had any chance to answer or even nod the human carried on talking without him. "I'm just checking to see if everything on the outside of the train is nice and sturdy," Just as he'd assumed. "don't want it breaking down on anyone's important trips now. I guess I _should _be the most responsible one anyway- I will be driving the train soon after all! Oh, I almost forgot-" the human stepped down from the ladder and opened his briefcase with two quiet clicks. When he stood up again he was holding up a small pristine white jacket and a black tie- like a few of the others were wearing. "The boys and I knew you were coming, so we rented these for you, just like ours, see?" He pointed (however impolite) towards a few of his fellow workers who were donned in the particular colour scheme. Pride smiled his most innocent, humble kind of smile, graciously accepting the temporary gifts and hugging them tight to his chest.

"Oh wow, thank you so much. That's so amazing and nice of you to do something like that just for me!" Beneath his act and his seemingly boundless happiness, part of Pride really did wonder what had compelled them to do such a thing for someone they didn't even know. There must have been some selfish human reason behind it- there always was and always would be, he just had to—_Oh, _that was it. He was the supposed nephew of a _General_, and someone so high up in the military would have enough power to, oh, say, influence an increase in wages for railway workers or something similar. How simple of them, thinking that even if he was related to some fabricated general that his mere good word could do anything. Well, Pride could tolerate that, but they would need to know that he was well aware of their bribery and their selfishness in disguise of his 'gifts'. "I'll definitely tell my uncle about how nice you were today when I see him next." Was that enough of a hint that he would give them what they so wanted? They were probably too stupid to even see how obvious he was being. Content now, Pride slid off his jacket and undid his tie, slipping his fleeting replacements on in their place, but letting the human tie the tie for him, mustn't let himself look _too_ smart now. Even wearing the new clothes felt horrible in a peculiar way, it falling too high around his waist, sleeves too high on his arm no matter how hard he pulled at them to stay down. Why had they hired the wrong size, did they just randomly guess? Or assume that a child so interested in trains would be younger? Whatever annoyance that had formed in contempt of the sycophantic rail workers he only ever showed a smile through his container, he could put up with them all, just for the photograph.

"I'm glad you like them so much. I hope to see you on this train once it's up and running too. Now, I think that the photographer's almost ready, so I think we should get into place for it." Sure enough, without Pride noticing the scattered group of the eleven or so humans had suddenly crowded again into a quivering mass that was far too close. Two of them were setting up a piece of white cardboard in front of the train, while the eventual train driver whistled five of his colleges closer to the train, dragging the cloth away from it and letting it settle in a heap out of the camera's sight. The train uncovered now Pride could see immediately that it was truly as ostentatious and pretentious as he had thought it would be, with its dark, almost black painted strips of metal making it up, curved neatly but at the same time bulky and more than a little unsightly to say the least. Pride let his appraisal pass with little more than a minute, dissatisfied twitch in the corner of his mouth and a slight turning up of his nose in its general direction. The train driver stepped away from the train and turned back to him with another smile.

"We're all set now, so why don't you stand here right at the front so everyone can see you." Pride obliged him with the same happy grin, standing perfectly still as he should behind the sign. Everyone was still trying to figure out where to sit or kneel or stand on the photograph, and the length of the jacket still bothering Pride slowly, ever so slowly lest they see, began to loosen his shadows grip around the skin in his arms and legs. Father had always wanted him to be able to manipulate his container's height perfectly, and while Pride had always been aware that he was capable of it, there was no reason that he never implement it into his act, and now was as good a time as any, especially when it was required to prevent the photograph looking odd when people realised he was wearing clothes that were too small for him – that would be far too embarrassing. Within moments, and without anyone noticing (and how could they possibly?) Pride had lowered his container's height to an acceptable level, the sleeves falling neatly over his wrists now, as they should. It was a tad uncomfortable, the skin around his ankles bunching in unsightly wrinkles beneath his trousers, but it was only for a few minutes until it was over and he could go home. It was nothing he couldn't accept as a necessary requirement of his act for now. The others took their places around him without even giving him a look, most of them at his side kneeling down and still being much taller than him at his current height, well, it was what they wanted all along, him to look a bit younger. Whenever his eyes met with any of them his smile returned to its fullest without hesitation, rambunctious and innocent like it was expected to be. The photographer stood the camera in front of them, signaling them to remain as still as possible while he took the picture. Pride could see the train driver glancing at him from his place at the far hand, hand in his pocket, looking quite pleased with himself. Pride just focused on smiling.

It would be over soon.

Well, now that _that_ was over he saw no point in remaining upstairs for any longer, Wrath hadn't asked to meet with him during his lunch break (and even if he had it was far too long until noon to wait for), so it was for the best that he return home. Now that he was back in his tailor made clothes that actually fit him and his container had returned to its correct, comfortable height (the only one that felt right) Pride had let a much more genuine smile creep onto his face. He should have been relieved that it was over, and that the streets had cleared up from the smothering morning rush, but something still felt amiss, his footsteps seemed to be echoing a tad, which made no sense, was someone-?

Something poked him in the back.

"H-Hi there…" Who was that? Was it Envy, come to tell him how long he'd been away to just try to push his luck and wind him up like always? But it wasn't even noon, how could he have been taking too long? Rather than jumping to any more conclusions Pride thought it infinitely easier to just see who was bothering him.

It was a boy, a much younger boy than the form his container took, but even so he was almost as tall as him. He flinched away as he turned around, forcing himself into an even smaller shape. He certainly was a peculiar thing, especially his skin, his skin was dark, much darker than Pride had ever seen before, was it dirt? He didn't think it possible for someone to get so covered in mud to do something like that, but if that was just the colour of his skin then that was certainly unique, to the extent that Pride didn't immediately push him away, eyes softening, falling into his façade again. He stepped closer, cautious, but friendly enough.

"Hello, who're you?" The boy was wearing a white shirt, but most of it was covered up by a pair of barely presentable brown overalls, one of the straps was loose, and threatening to slip from his shoulder as he shook in his little scared ball. Tied around his neck was a large, bright but rather tattered orange bow, one side hanging open, though he could barely see it from how much he was staring at the floor, his hat covering it. Still curious, Pride tried again. "Why are you so afraid? You came up to me, did you forget?" The scrunched up thing stopped shivering, and looked nervously up. "No need to be scared." Their eyes met, but there was still the sparkle of apprehension in them. "My name's Sel…" Pride trailed off, his eyes…eyes of a faded scarlet, how was that even possible? Humans didn't have red eyes, did they? "…S-Selim, that's right. What's yours?" Pride thought he could even see strands of _white _hair poking out from beneath his brown hat, and he just decided that this human was unusual to a fault and that was the end of it.

"I…I'm Matthias. I'm s-sorry for sneaking up on you. I saw you coming back from the train station and thought that you'd want one'a these." The boy held up the newspaper that he'd been crushing to his stomach up. "I didn't mean to be like that, you don't have to have one if you don't want." As if such a weak, constantly nervous child could force him into purchasing such a thing anyway. But it was his duty to Father to monitor current events within Central, so maybe purchasing a newspaper would be beneficial, for today at least. "It must be really nice to have your _pictcha_ taken with all those people who built the train; you must be really rich to be able to go on trains too. I wish I could do something like that." What was that, was he envious of him, simply for being photographed, and the implication of his status from his clothes in comparison to the child's own? Pride smirked inside at the idea that the human admired him for such a senseless thing, but didn't show any fluctuation of his smile on the surface, still playing along with whatever desperate attempt at friendship the strange red-eyed boy was trying to forge with him.

"Aw, that's fine, I didn't mind. I probably need one anyway. It's nice to meet you. I like your job too; it must be nice selling newspapers to everyone. I bet you get lots of money from it." Matthias looked down sadly, and shook his head slowly.

"Not really, I have to give all my money to the newspaper man, who gives me them to sell, if he thought I didn't give him it all he'd get real mad, and…" An awkward silence passed over them, until he seemed to realise how stupid he was being and tried to carry on as if nothing had happened. "B-but, it's really nice to meet you too, Selim." Matthias somehow managed to put on a smile that was more forced than Pride's was, sad and lonely and trying ever so hard. Whatever vague interest Pride had about the peculiar child had sputtered away, and he nervously scuffed his shoe against the floor, looking away.

"I need to go now, but I'll buy your newspaper before I do." There had to be some spare cenz in his pocket from _something. _His fingers brushed against two small coins, but of what, 10 cenz, 50, 100, 500? "Is…100 cenz enough?" Good, they were 50 cenz coins thank goodness.

"Wow, really? You'll buy one? That's great! Thank you so much. Yeah 100 cenz is more than enough." Despite it being too much Pride severely doubted that the child would be considerate enough to give him any change. Matthias just tucked the two coins into the pocket on his overall leg with a happier smile and handed him the newspaper.

"You're welcome."

"It was nice meeting you again. See you later, Selim." The strange white haired boy waved as he wandered off, as far as he was concerned them having become the best of friends with but a single meeting.

"Bye." He didn't deserve anything more than the one syllable. Once he was out of sight Pride's smile dropped immediately and he was left in the middle of the street wondering what on earth had just happened. He needed to go home before he met any more people wanting to weed money out of him.

At least if he was lucky he would never have to deal with the strange human ever again.

0 * 0 * 0

**October 13****th**** 1878**

Noises. Nothing but soft, little scraps of noise seeping in and out in varying volume and pitch and tone, all muffled together. It often echoed about when he was asleep, like it was far away, somewhere far beyond where he could ever reach and yet not at the same time because he knew he must have been there at least once because he knew about things outside of them. The noises never bothered him when he was dreaming, in dreams there was only pretend sounds that weren't real at all, and he preferred them because they weren't loud and they didn't echo, not even a little bit. But now, the noise was wrapping around him, prodding at him and dragging him closer to them, until he'd wake up and they'd make sense again. The voices whispered closer to him, they were definitely voices now, which meant he…but he didn't want to wake up yet…

Something flickered, and something was moving now, making even more horrible noise, until whatever thin, wavering string that tied him to his peaceful dreaming snapped, and he could feel himself easing awake, ever so slowly, every possibility of sleeping faded away into nothing. Maybe waking up…wouldn't be _that_ bad, he could always…go back to sleep if he wanted…

Pride rubbed at his eye as he rolled onto his stomach, yawning, covering his mouth for the sake of politeness, even in the darkness he needed to be polite and well mannered. Darkness, then Father must have been sleeping. If it was late enough that Father had decided to rest then why would he suddenly wake up for no reason? What had woke him up? No, he remembered something, a voice, voices that had gnawed into his pleasant dream, it must have been them. Groggily Pride stretched out, tugging his sleeves down from where they'd pulled up around his elbows. The shadows were quivering, jittery and nervous from being woken so suddenly, wanting to spill out across the floor and assess what was wrong, but trapped, holed up inside him in the complete darkness. Pride shifted, curling a little to try and calm them into a more comfortable stillness. He wouldn't risk waking Father attempting to find and light a candle just to appease them anywa- No, they _could_ come out, just barely if he tried, so there was the light coming from somewhere, but where? It flickered at the very edge of his drowsy, bleary eyed vision, a tiny amber glow, just a candle or two…

"…Took you enough time getting them all." Even with bits of sleep still lodged in them Pride managed to roll his eyes. Of course Lust would be disobedient enough to be sneaking around at such a time. There were others though, a shorter silhouette beside her.

"At least we _have_ a few now. He'd better like them." Just as expected, where Lust was Envy was close enough as well. Pride didn't stir, still watching silently from his little scrunched up ball on the floor, slightly curious about why they were still up.

"It isn't like he really has a choice, being cooped up for so long him getting a women is practically impossible even with the _war wound_." War wound, who had one of those? "At least Father trusts us with it without involving him, so it's up to us to choose the best one out of what we have for now." They both stepped into the corridor that Pride knew to be what led to their rooms, and he didn't move lest they realise he wasn't asleep as they assumed. Though it was all their fault anyway for waking him up (and no doubt almost waking Father up too) by talking so loudly that they were foolish to think he _could_ have slept through it. He waited until the light faded before pushing himself up, dusting his jacket off (he'd fallen asleep in his day clothes, how shameful, he would need to find his nightgown before he went back to sleep) and tiptoeing after them.

Pride forced himself to the wall to keep him walking straight, passing Lust's room without really noticing. He almost fell into the doorway of Greed's untouched, long deserted room (why Father hadn't ordered it to be emptied or destroyed after he had betrayed them was beyond him, but he didn't dare question it) and had barely remained standing as he latched onto the other end immediately after. The faint light poured out of a room at the far end of the corridor, farther than Envy's room, which, like Greed's room, Pride had never seen, nor had any desire to. It was ridiculous to think that Gluttony had his own room, so was the last room just a spare room? His curiosity continuing to get the better of him Pride slid further along the wall, and the light falling over him his newly reemerging human shadow stained black immediately as he let his true shadows crawl over the illuminated walls of the corridor. If they weren't doing anything wrong that Father hadn't asked for then everything would be fine, he wouldn't dream of using his shadows on his siblings without the most assured of good reasons. Pride peeked in through the doorway, his sleepiness creeping the tiniest bit into his smirk as he leant against it.

"**What are you two – **_**three**_** doing up so late at night?" **Three, it was definitely three, with Gluttony staring at him from the corner, a finger stuck in his mouth as usual. Lust didn't turn around at his voice, back facing him. She was messing with a large wooden board on legs, sticking a picture to one side with pins. Envy had the respect to actually look at him, but tilted his head in confusion.

"_Late_? It's only six. Father sent me out because he wanted to sleep." Oh, there _weren't _up at a horrendous time, that was better. But still…

"**The time is irrelevant, the point still stands. What, precisely, are you doing?"**

"Father sent us—well, he sent me – to find potential wives for Wrath." Envy motioned towards the collection of square photographs scattered over the table.

"**Father wanted you to find wife for Wrath?"**

Lust measured out eight strips of red silk, cutting them short with a swipe of her nails and pinning them all at one end to the photograph on the board. She let them hang that way, and sat back down next to Envy. She sighed quietly, almost glowering at him through the very corner of her eye, before at last she spoke, the first she'd ever spoken to him for longer than he could remember.

"All Fuhrers are expected to take a wife, Pride. Though Wrath will not be a Fuhrer for some time, it will be unusual for him to remain a 'single' man for much longer." It seemed that Lust's insolence and coy nature hadn't waned at all over the years they'd spent avoiding each other, perhaps even grown with the conceited knowledge that she was only a few days shy of being two hundred years old. "Therefore, Father wished for us to locate a suitable, preferably corruptible woman to become his spouse one day. So he sent Envy to snoop around and choose a few of them to see if they're suitable." Pride wouldn't give her the satisfaction of an answer, not even nodding. Envy, ever wanting to be noticed, spoke out instead to avoid any lull in their explanation.

"W-Well…Father wants us all to help choose one though, so it's good you woke up actually. He told us to not wake you up to ask if you wanted to help us, but at least you're here now." He kicked another stool out from beneath the table and smiled, wanting him to sit down and join them. Reluctantly, and with the same line of an expression that they'd come to expect of him he did, not because it was polite, of course not, merely because it was what Father wanted of him. Envy pushed the first picture in front of him- it was of a young girl with golden blonde hair and piercing eyes of a sky blue. Pride had no measure of human attractiveness but thought she could be acceptable of being bought out.

"Ok, so here we've got…" Envy stole the photograph back for a moment to flip it over and read something that was scrawled on the back "Miss Meredith Wespe." Lust scoffed.

"Isn't she only seventeen? We can't have Wrath being accused to picking them too young, Envy; people'd look down on him." She pulled the picture away and stabbed it to the board with a smirk, connecting one loose strand of silk from where it started at Wrath's military photo to the one of Miss Wespe. "Not to mention she's practically joined at the hip to Phillip, engaged probably knowing him, and I don't think he'd be very willing to part with her."

"No way, really, _Phillip_? B-B-but she hasn't even got a curl, or any sparkles on that picture, so she can't be one of them." Envy gasped out incredulously, squinting at the photo from across the room. "Did I get a picture of her sister by accident or something?"

"_No_,that comes _after_ the wedding, Envy. She'll get them soon enough, don't worry." Lust slashed through the photo before sitting back down, and laid her head on her hands as she leant on her elbows with the same crooked smile. "Well, now that she seems completely useless unless we want to cause a scandal with dear little Wrath, who else did you pick?" She dragged another photo towards her with a gentle pull of a nail, but she snickered again at first sight of the picture and pushed it off towards him instead. Pride pulled it close and studied it. The girl this time was an older woman than Miss Wespe, with a dark brown hair and darker eyes, she was probably about Wrath's current age, and Pride saw nothing wrong with it.

"You're aiming a bit too high now."

"She's only twenty-two, Lust. What's wrong with her?" Lust only shook her head in exaggerated disappointment.

"But she's Edna West, Envy. Wrath's just a Warrant officer; he doesn't have a chance with the _Fuhrer's daughter_, not right now at least. "

"**It would be difficult to set up any meeting between them, if Miss West only attends the military balls, which Wrath would be unable to attend until he rises above the rank of Major, which may take an inconvenient amount of time, and she may be married when that time comes." **Envy nodded with a toothy frown.

"…But she's still a maybe, right?"

"**We should see the rest before making any judgments."** Pride reached forward and chose a photo at random. This one looked shy, and was rather plain, though her hair was wavy much like Lust's, though not the impossible inky black of Lust's hair, merely a human attempt at truly black hair. Beneath her lopsided fridge shone eyes of a deep, mossy green, and for a moment Pride had a fleeting spark of a thought that she might have been familiar somehow in a childish, grasping-at-straws sort of way. Pushing the thought aside as it fizzled out Pride turned the photograph over, reading out her name to see if Lust could pick out yet another reason why Wrath couldn't marry this human girl.

"**Ophelia Bennett."**

"Oh, she's nobody important." Envy gave her a look, like her saying nothing was even worse than it being dismissed for a good reason. "No, really, she'll be easy to buy out. She's single and everything." He smiled.

"Maybe-pile." Perhaps the instant approval _was_ worse than a lengthy dismissal, with the woman just being assigned a quick 'perhaps' and being quickly stuck to the board (and not slashed up) and forgotten immediately. With only five left to choose from Envy just closed his eyes and picked up the first one his fingers brushed against. A more gleeful smile pulled at his mouth, and he swiveled on his stool to face Gluttony, showing it to him first.

"What do you think, Gluttony, isn't she nice?" Gluttony blinked his simple white eyes at it, and babbled around the finger in his mouth.

"Just girl, Envy. Girls have soft skin. Taste nice, can I eat her, Envy?" He patted at his head as he turned back around.

"Sorry Gluttony, not her, she's for Wrath…maybe."

"Oh…Ok…"

"See, if Gluttony likes her then she's a keeper. It's no wonder that Hakuro's been trying to cheat on his wife with her. Same name too, he must like that name."

"Hakuro, cheating? Give me that." Lust took it from him effortlessly, appraising it like she had the others. "Hm…Madeleine Shiels…wait…" She looked closer, and scowled, giving Envy a harsh and yet somehow playful slap on the head. "Stupid, that _is_ Hakuro's wife!" Lust huffed and crossed her arms, murmuring something about Envy being like that on purpose. "Never mind. Who's next…?" She lifted up the one closest to her, and scowled. "Geraldine Gardner? Envy, why did you even pick this one? Grey hair ain't really the best thing y'know, Wrath probably won't be fussed but still." From this distance Pride could only pick out the messy shock of grey hair on her head, her sunken eyes and her ugly pointed glasses. Despite how young she probably was she still looked far too old for Wrath, maybe it was the grey hair.

"I thought it'd be interesting, Lust, like those Ishvalans and their white hair. If she can be easily corrupted who cares?"

"…Fine, we need more 'maybes' here anyway." There was another 'maybe' after that in the form of an apparently uninteresting woman of little status, wealth or importance called Charlotte Driscoll, but she was thrown into the section of women that Wrath _could _be married to so quickly that Pride only noticed how the peculiar dark blue of her eyes that clashed with her mousy hair before she was cast aside. Having very little to add to the quick evaluations Pride just watched and noted that he might be meeting with these women one day when Wrath inevitably called upon him to meet them as well, but other than that remained quiet and watched Lust and Envy continue their inappropriate banter (while Gluttony stayed obedient and _silent _in the corner as he should). Another by the name of Kathryn Lumley with a unique fiery tint to her hair went likewise a few moments later. With four women now safely in the 'maybe Wrath will marry them if we pay them enough' section of the board (they weren't cut up) Pride stood up on his stool to get a better look at the final photograph. This girl had the same attempt at ebony tresses like Ophelia had, though her eyes were a more conventional brown instead, simpler. Pride had no opinion on her, same as all the rest, and sat down without a word.

"That's Isadora Turner, Envy." How Lust managed to know so many people and often everything about them was beyond him, but no doubt she'd wrung every last gossip from Headquarters through the most vile, disgusting of human ways, though that was the only thing Lust _could_ do so the least she could do was do it well. "She's married to that silly little Hamburgang boy, and she's pregnant and I'm quite sure she's moved away to live in his fancy mansion now anyway so she's _definitely_ out of the realm of possibility." She tore the photograph up with two neat rips, not even bothering to stick it to the wooden board now that they'd exhausted the eight that Envy had chosen. "So, that's two women who are married, one who's pregnant and one who's out of Wrath's league for now, but at least you've found us four who are good enough to get by on." Envy nodded, pleased with himself at doing an _adequate_ job at finding an ample group of suitresses for Wrath.

"Yeah, we only need one in the end anyway. Pride, can you talk to Wrath about it? Father said you should do it." Pride slid himself off his stool and headed towards the doorway, standing in it just as he had earlier.

"**I will discuss the women with Wrath in due course." **Lust was glaring again, like she'd only just remembered that he was here and decided to belatedly spite him again.** "I am sure he will make the right decision on which of them he shall take as his wife, and that she will be easily persuaded to cooperate with us." **The shadows, that had been obediently still and calm, flared up one last time, and they receded as he stepped out back into the darkness. He vaguely heard Envy calling out a 'goodnight' to him, but Lust didn't say a word, Pride didn't _want_ Lust to say anything to him, why would he?

Halfway down the corridor he yawned, a soft, quiet yawn, the kind that happened and was over before he even realised it was happening. He covered his mouth and smiled dopily in the darkness.

Maybe now he could finally go back to sleep.

0 * 0 * 0

**October 25****th**** 1878**

Two photographs in just over a year was _not_ something Pride would have desired in any way, shape or form, but it was necessary, so he'd carried it out again without a murmur. At least he got to wear his clothes that fit him this time instead of being forced to pretend to be shorter.

Thinking it over Pride knew he should have anticipated such a thing long ago. With now three fully operational alchemic laboratories working under the military the public would have been expecting results from their arduous taxpayer money that helped fund their research. It seemed that they would be satisfied, and morale restored at the mere _mention_ of the laboratories producing something of worth, whether it was ever spoke of again or not.

Pride hadn't really been paying attention to the presentation, his most naïve smile just plastered to his face as he pottered around with the two men and two women that were fussing over him because of whatever person of relevance he was related to. As he had never seen the First laboratory his interest was piqued for a split second, but even that had quickly faded as it seemed just as boring as the Second laboratory he had visited fourteen years before. The camera seemed very shy this time, remaining at a safe distance and photographing them at a strange angle that caught more of the laboratory in the background, but maybe that was what they wanted, and the smartly dressed military and scientists were more for the effect of that _wonderful _new alchemic development that the laboratory had made.

But now that it was finished Pride thought nothing more about it, walking with more genial steps towards the centre of town, and even smiling a little. The distance felt the same as that from the third laboratory before it, of course it would be, everything Father did had a purpose, the laboratories themselves must have factored into his designs, and it was because of that eventual purpose that Pride didn't mind the walk back in the slightest.

There was a café in the poor enough part of Central, quaint and simplistic and content with where it was and what it was in every way. Pride's lack of any special need for food rendered them rather useless to him, but he could appreciate their use, from the low pristine white tables and chairs and the canopy that hung over the patrons while they ate or drank or gossiped, when they relished in the company of others and absorbed every speck of the staff's kindness. For all their less than illustrious lifestyle Pride was rather surprised that they retained some politeness and sense of manners there, though he knew it was just a spectacularly rare occurrence that existed at that particular café and nowhere else in this part of Central.

It was probably what had drawn Wrath to it in the first place, given how he was raised.

Wrath was there when Pride reached the cafe, sitting by himself, coat folded over the back of his chair, waiting for him while he was on his lunch break. As Pride hurried up to him with his put on smile and sat down he noticed a glass of some clear liquid on his side of the table, a quick taste made it obvious it wasn't water.

"You bought me lemonade, Wrath? You know I only drink milk." Seeing Wrath's smirk from around his cup Pride sipped at it anyway, he wouldn't show himself up by refusing it.

"Good afternoon to you too." Wrath was young, Wrath could get away with being mischievous, so long as there was respect beneath it, which of course there was, there was no doubt about that. He had matured enough to stop seeing Pride as his number, and in their understanding Pride had done the same.

"How long have you been here?"

"About half an hour, I'll need to be heading back in ten minutes. I can't have them demoting me immediately for something like being late."

"Immediately?" Pride pushed himself up to glance at the shoulders of Wrath's coat, a star now adorning the middle of the three golden stripes than ran along it. "Oh, you're a…Second Lieutenant now. If you're lucky we may be able to get you to meet Miss Edna West sooner than we thought, maybe…January 1880 at the annual Military Ball, if you become a major by that time." Something flashed across his uncovered eye (they'd given him an eye-patch to hide his ouroboros on the excuse that he'd lost an eye during his stay at Pendleton), something…sad there, a drooping in his eyebrow and down to drag the corners of his mouth into a serious, if slightly dejected frown. Pride almost choked on his lemonade at the bizarre expression, passing it off as a cough as he set the glass down.

"What's wrong, Wrath? The Fuhrer's youngest daughter is the best possibility for you, albeit an ambitious one but you've never been one to-"

"I don't want her as a wife." Defiance? No, Wrath wouldn't be so stupid, did he just not like Edna, a remnant of his humanity in being picky for his personal view of attractiveness?

"Well, we still have four others you can mee-"

"I don't want any of them. I don't want some woman you three had picked out for me. You've done everything else for me, why can't I choose who I want to marry myself?!" Wrath seemed to realise who exactly he was shouting at, and his shoulders slumped. "Please, Pride, help me find one on my own, without Father looking over my shoulder all the time." Pride didn't say anything, not even with Wrath's sad, desperate gaze boring into him. He would just have to endure the silence for now. What was Wrath saying? Why was he being so rebellious to what Father wanted? Father only wanted what was best for Wrath, like he did for all of them. How could Wrath even think about such things, how dare he not trust them enough with such a trivial, unimportant matter as who his spouse in the eyes of the public was. If he didn't trust Father with even that then what else could he…

Rebellion is defiance. Defiance becomes resentment. Resentment leads to betrayal, and the greatest betrayal is desertion.

_Just like Greed…_

Would Wrath betray them too? No, Pride couldn't let that happen again, he _wouldn't!_ In the silence Pride let himself look at Wrath again, but now it was smoldering with the deepest hate for Wrath's shameful thoughts. He would dispel those thoughts immediately.

"…It's been long enough. Go back to work, Wrath." Even with his voice retrained to a calm, controlled whisper lest the humans hear the undertone of authority drenched in malice and the vilest venom was palpable. Wrath pushed back a little in his chair.

"P-Pride, I'm sorry, I just-"

"_No_, don't you dare explain yourself to me, don't you _dare_ try to justify how immature you are being. I know what you're thinking, that we don't know what's best for you." Without that slightest possibility of anyone noticing the shadows shot up and forced the chair by its legs flush against the table, Wrath wasn't running away from what he needed to hear. "You're naïve and helpless Wrath, no wonder you are getting yourself enticed into pathetic _human_ delusions of something as foolish as love, humans don't marry for _love, _only for personal gain and wealth and to manipulate weak minded individuals like you." This wasn't being disrespectful, Father would understand this time, if he didn't put Wrath in place now it would only get worse. Father would blame him for not keeping Wrath in line and then… "Fine, I shall humour you, Wrath. When you're off work on Sunday I will help you in finding this 'wife' of yours outside of those we have picked out for you, and you shall receive a succinct, definite and swift correction to your petty, idealistic assumptions. Now go, Wrath. I do not want to hear any more of this until then."

Wrath opened his mouth a fraction, like he wanted to say something, but he thought better of it as Pride shot him another glare. He just slipped on his newly embroidered coat, tucked his chair in and walked towards Central Headquarters without another word.

Pride knew there was nothing else to say. At least Wrath was young enough to be corrected before it was too late, but it was his own failure to have let Wrath get like this without noticing in the first place. Pride lay his head down on the table with a sigh, how had it all got so complicated, he'd only gone to get photographed. At least it was only manifesting as one thing at the moment, which would get stamped out soon enough.

Sunday, after Sunday everything would go back to normal.

Of course it would.

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Two more photobombs complete! Also the matchmaking with Wrath promise I made from chapter 2 is now FULFILLED, yay ^_^

Now let's see if I can get out another chapter before I go back to school ^_^


	52. That Impossible thing called Love

A/N Longest chapter ahoy! *dies* Now, this chapter contains some of my obvious callbacks, so I'm glad I finally get to have them since they've been a long time coming, as can probably be seen with what the callbacks are ^_^

Previous reviewers:

Anne camp-

And now it is real Sunday, yay :) *actually its Monday morning now but shhh*

Moofy-fan –

Yes, absolutely nothing to do it that at all… :3 I like Matthias too, glad you liked him ^_^ I did have a lot of fun making up all of Wrath's suitresses, so I'm happy it turned out even a little bit amusing. I guess Pride's worry is kind of justified since he knows that he'll get the blame if Wrath goes the way of Greed ;_;

VelgamiDragon-

I know right, Pride is very contradictory at the best of times ^^;

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Fifty-Two: That Impossible thing called Love**

Wrath would learn, of course he would. All Wrath had been born into was designed to quash all possibility of defiance, and once his feeble desire to have something of freewill in his life was swiftly shown to be the worst possible path for him he would see sense and normalcy would resume without incident.

Knowing there was nothing better to do outside of return home and pretend none of this terrible conversation had occurred Pride gulped down the last of his lemonade and pushed the glass further into the centre of the table. While he would have loved to forget about the whole thing, forget about 'humouring' Wrath on Sunday and hope it would all sputter away because it was just a phase Wrath was going through Pride knew far too well that if he didn't stop it now it would only degenerate and spread to far worse acts of defiance. Deciding to think it over where he would be undisturbed Pride set his head down on the table to consider his method of concisely eliminating the issue. Following Wrath around in his high class clothes would be far too conspicuous considering Wrath was still someone of little importance in the military, he would need to find new-

"Hi there!" -…clothes. Pride raised his head, rubbing at his eyes irritably at the new tiny distraction from what was far too important to _be _distracted from. Still, he couldn't betray his act and not behave as appropriate, and he twitched the corner of his mouth up into what could be considered a very tiny probably forced smile. The child would never realise that.

"…Hello, Matthias." Pride hadn't seen anything of the young Ishvalan (as he had come to know the correct term was) boy since they had met the year before, but it was still obvious it was him, with a cluster of papers under his arm and his hat hiding those bright scarlet eyes and that snow coloured hair of his.

"Wow, you remembered me. We haven't seen each other in a while, but I remember you too, Selim!" He seemed a little taller than Pride had remembered, only the tiniest bit though, and he had no reason to doubt that he himself was still taller than the dishevelled little thing. For one his clothes were still slightly too large for him…

His clothes still too big for _him_, but perhaps not for…

Pride's smile sharpened into a much more genuine smirk at the thought. The human didn't notice in the least, still talking, much less shy than when they had first met, probably because he considered them to be something of 'friends' now…

"How have you been? I'm eight now, isn't that amazing? How old are you now?"

"Oh…I'm…ten now." Any number would do, Pride knew that his container looked far more mature than the child did, so who was he to question it? He trusted him too much for that anyway. Matthias only nodded and accepted it as an answer with his usual smile, and for a moment he raised his head high enough that Pride could actually see his face. The skin on his left cheek was swollen, purpling, his eye on the other side didn't look particularly normal either.

"That's so cool, I bet being ten must be even better than being eight. I can't wait 'til I'm ten, then I'll be able to deliver the morning papers as well!" The boy seemed far too excited over the prospect of being given even more work to do, even more papers to deliver, and needing to wake up at an absurd time before the sun even rose. But maybe such responsibility made the boy's life feel like it had some meaning, and that's why he cared so much…

No, if he had been so incompetent to receive such injuries from his employer, then his desire to work ever harder by taking on more work was only his attempts to please his employer and be spared any more punishment for whatever he had done to step out of line. If Pride could force the situation to suit something closer to himself, how he had longed to repent for his own mistakes by doing everything he could in return then he could just _barely _understand it, but even then one's parent was far more important than whatever master the boy was working for, so it paled in comparison in every way possible.

Well, it didn't matter now. There were far more important things to attend to.

"That's great that you work so hard, I bet your master really likes you." The boy paled considerably, and with his spare hand covered part of his face as he shook his head sadly, and he shivered. Pride, not wanting to get stuck in the same awkward silence that had started on their first meeting forced a cough, and scratched at the back of his neck with a crooked frown. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" But the apology was not the part that would dig them from the tension, only perking up would accomplish that. "Hey, I want to show you something, I found this really interesting place, and I've been waiting to show it you." He might as well kill two birds with one stone; move the plan along while swiftly bringing that part of the conversation to a necessary close.

"Wow, really, you wanted to show me?" Matthias chirped with a returned bounce in his enunciation.

"Of course I did. C'mon, let's go now, if I leave it any I might not see you for another year!" Pride left a five-hundred cenz coin on the table to cover the cost of Wrath's lunch and the lemonade before dragging the boy excitedly away, though he heard him murmur something about it being _his_ fault for disappearing, but it sounded in good humour so Pride didn't think anything of it.

"I can't see anything, Selim." Now that Pride had successfully lured the naïve child into a deserted looking alleyway and had instructed him to stare at a corner for the 'interesting thing' he could consider how he was going to go about this. Killing him probably wasn't really necessary, but there was no point throwing caution to the wind lest the boy see too much and run his mouth. It wasn't a chance he was willing to take.

"Look closer, you'll see it." There, that would give him a few more seconds to think it over. He hadn't the time to consider washing them, so there would have to be no blood, regrettably. Well, if he couldn't take any pleasure in it there was no point in dragging it out any longer.

Only a minute sliver of light trickled into the alleyway from the noon sun, his shadow barely there at all, clinging tight around his feet in a small oval shape. He would need to be cautious, and exact, but how could he take his time when a child's attention span was a flighty mess that could barely stay still for anything longer than ten seconds. "It is there, I promise. When you finally see it you'll wonder how you never noticed it before."

Forcing a puddle of shadow out beneath him Pride raised two thin strings of shadow up at his side, blunting their edges. Both of them flattened into their tiny hands on wispy, boneless arms, both in equal width, perfect for what was required of them. Just as he was about to let them slither forward Matthias turned around with a sigh.

"I can't see anything, are you sure this is the right pl…?" The boy looked confused for the briefest moment, but the words still died in his throat at the sight of him, whether the malicious smirk carving its way into his face or simply his posture Pride couldn't be sure, but he'd definitely noticed _something_. He couldn't wait anymore, couldn't stall, if he waited another second he'd realise what was so wrong, even if there was no escape for him, it was better he remain unaware for as long as possible. "Huh? What's tha-" The two shadows lunged forward without another second of hesitation, ensnaring the boy with ease, the first wrapping tight around his neck while the other folded over his mouth, couldn't have him drawing any unneeded attention with screaming.

Pride waited, calmly, his smirk having sagged into an emotionless line, with no blood to be shed there was nothing he could possibly enjoy about it, and he only tightened his shadow further around the boy's throat, keeping the sides of the shadow dull and blunt so as to not break the skin. It was only required, a necessary death, he supposed. Of course the boy wouldn't see it that way; he was staring at him with terrified, streaming eyes, still whining pitiably behind the shadow on his mouth, more a sobbing now. There was something beneath the fear as well, something… hurt beyond words, and while his hands were still clawing desperately at his neck to tear the shadow away, part of him was more pleading instead, trying to reach whatever part of him the boy wanted to believe wasn't all an act. How naïve he was.

The shadow coiled and constricted until something gave in with a _crack_.

There was no place in the world for such things.

Pride let him slide down the wall in a nice little heap, and the shadows retreated back into his container instantly. He padded forward with a softer smile, and pulled off the boy's hat gently, setting it aside for later. One by one he pulled his overalls, his shoes and his ribbon away from him with something of tenderness, completely certain that they would be a perfect fit for him He could keep the overly long shirt he was wearing; Pride had enough shirts that would work better anyway.

The boy's eyes were still open, but blank and empty and filled with the hopelessness he had died with. Not wanting to make it seem too suspicious Pride pushed them closed, and folded his arms over his lap, resting head against the wall so that he could be thought to be only sleeping. What did it matter, it was October; it was not absurd to think that a child could die from the cold at such a time of the year.

And even if they were to discover it to be something more than that, who would even care enough to investigate such an irrelevant, unimportant death of one insignificant child?

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**October 27th 1878**

"So…you're a paperboy now?" It seemed Envy enjoyed poking his nose into what as none of his business a little too much. Well, that was his job anyway really, sneaking about as someone he wasn't doing something he really shouldn't. Pride glanced at him sideways as Envy inspected his stolen hat, prodding at it absentmindedly (the fact that he'd deduced he was using the guise as a paperboy from the hat alone was not a testament to his intelligence, certainly not, all paperboys must have worn that type of hat).

"**Only taking appearance into account, Envy, then the answer is ****yes. However, this is only a temporary façade while I am travelling with Wrath today, and I will not be contacting any of the newspaper producing humans during that time. " **There was no point in _really_ becoming a paperboy for the sake of a single day, and it was assured to only last one day. Wrath would have realised his idiotic mistake at believing he could find a better human than they had chosen by then and everything would return back to normalcy where Wrath knew his place and respected their choices. Still, while Wrath wasn't working today he had still taken to leaving to visit town at a stupidly early time, so Pride had let him go (or rather, he was gone by the time Pride had woken) with the intention of joining him in his 'wife searching' in the afternoon. Envy handed him his hat before pushing himself up from his haunches.

"Oh, ok. But I s—well I'll show you. One second." Pride didn't watch him go, forcing the inside of the hat that Envy had pushed out through the opening back out with a barely audible sigh, and ran his hands through his hair before checking to see if it still fit him (but of course it would be far too rude to wear it inside so it was just as quickly removed again). Pride thought it strange that the boy had purchased clothes that were too big for him (but they fit him quite comfortably, he noted), as if he was too poor to afford the correct size, or had done so intentionally to allow him to keep wearing them for long periods of time. It was all senseless, that he actively sought out oversized clothes, and given the ragged state of them already they hadn't been looked after very well anyway. Whatever state they were in they would be useful enough for today in cementing him to be an innocuous child and nothing more while he helped Wrath, and that being their only purpose Pride could tolerate them. Even so Pride could not bear the indignity of wearing the boy's bow in the style he had worn it with one side so horribly hanging open, and he began to tie it _properly_, as he should ha—

Something landed with a light thump in front of him.

"I'm back, Pride. Here's what I was talking about." It was a pile of newspapers, about one hundred at a rough estimation as Pride ran his finger over their thin spines. They were marked with today's date and nothing seemed amiss with them.

"**Why did you buy these newspapers, Envy?" **He hadn't been gone long enough for him to have bought them now; he must have been storing them somewhere, but for what reason?

"I didn't buy them, Pride. Lust gave them me this morning and said to give them to you now. I guess it's to make your disguise more convincing." Why would Lust buy him newspapers? Had she seen him in these clothes the day before and assumed that he would buy his own, and tried to sabotage him by buying them before him? "Wasn't that nice of her?" How could she be so immature, thinking that would work, thinking that he would even bother buying newspapers? Well, he would humor her for once, to show her how mistaken she was. Pride stood up, brushing a finger through his hair once and pulling his hat on. The thought crossed his mind to use his shadows to hoist the papers high enough to carry them, but they were light enough to pick up normally, and he could hold them under his arm without any effort whatsoever.

"**I should be going now, Envy. If I keep Wrath waiting he will begin to wander." **Pride walked away with short, measured steps at a sensible and even pace; there was no need to mess up his clothes with unnecessary rushing. Even though there was the possibility of Wrath growing impatient with him, he wouldn't dare push his luck again, today of all days.

"Oh, uh…bye then, I guess…" Envy called after him, but he ignored it, just tucking the newspapers further under his arm to stop them slipping and carrying on without a word.

Regardless of how unruly Lust was being in her stubborn attempts to irritate him, it was all meaningless, petty things that he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of even a response to her immature actions. Besides, her pointless attempts at irking him were even more inconsequential than ever given that he had a much more unruly sibling to attend to at the moment. At least Wrath still _had_ the capability of being a useful homunculus to Father.

Once he was put back in his place of course.

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Pride flicked lazily through the pages of his newspaper, only twenty, so it wouldn't take that long, it wasn't as if there was ever anything interesting in them anyway. The remaining sixty of them (humans seemed far too desperate to be informed of _everything _if they would buy them from him on his short walk to find Wrath half an hour before) in a pile beside his chair, a thin strip of shadow that looked to be nothing more than a black strap folded over them so none would be stolen. As, in the scheme of things, reading to analyse current human affairs and their effect on the Plan was more important than Wrath's silly whims Wrath would need to be patient, it was all his fault for wanting to visit this café again for no reason other than to waste more cenz on food, so the wait for him to magically discover a woman he was content with was all he deserved. Pride cringed as he caught sight of a particularly horrible article-

_First Laboratory Unveils New Alchemic Study_

And there was _his photograph _from Friday stuck awkwardly at the side of it, that terribly amateurish photograph that had no main focus and was barely relatable at all. It was for the best that he had changed clothes lest someone recognise him, for now at least, it would be a fleeting report that would hold no relevance in the future, so would be swiftly forgotten. Pride just scoffed and dropped it beside him, it falling on top of the pile, shadow moulding over it and straightening it into place with the others.

Wrath was looking as meek as ever, which given the circumstances was the only thing he should have been. Not wanting to meet his gaze Wrath kept his head down (which was foolish because Pride would _not _be showing himself up any more by letting his emotions get in the way because of someone like him), scraping butter awkwardly along his crumpet before taking a nervous bite, which if anything would draw more attention to him.

"So, what is your no _doubt extremely thought out _plan for securing yourself a potential wife before the day is out? I will not humour you beyond that time so I am sure that your plan must be fool-proof and have the greatest possibility of success." Wrath shuffled a little in his chair, and uncouthly leant forward to put his elbows on the table.

"Well, after this I think we should-"

"There is no plan, is there, Wrath? I have humored you to the point that I shall help you find this 'wife' of yours, but you have nothing substantial to acquire one, unlike what we had chosen for you, which was guaranteed to provide you with a wife. I assume you want us to roam the streets aimlessly until you discover a woman that you like the look of? And what if she does not reciprocate that shallowness? Humans will not be so easily charmed into marriage at first sight of you. I doubt your military rank will fare any better either." Wrath didn't object at being interrupted, as if he was expecting it, only continuing to calmly eat the rest of his lunch (however absurd _crumpets _for lunch was) without a word. "However, I shall not protest any more, do as you please for today and then put this nonsense behind you, or I fear I shall be obligated to voice your dissatisfaction with what we have given to you to Father. I will be keeping my distance from you during this time, playing my act as the newspaper vendor so as to be able to monitor you without raising suspicion, other than that I will leave you be until your insignificant searching is over." Wrath only nodded with a low grunt of approval instead of the courteous and respectful 'thank you' that Pride wanted, but he didn't mention it.

One of the café staff took Wrath's plate away once he'd finished, and he paid her accordingly, but she placed down a cup either side of the table, as well as a dish, and a small clear bag on his side of the table. Pride raised it eyebrow at the odd collection of food and drink Wrath had bothered to buy for him, like he wanted to waste even more time. There seemed to be little brown squares, about two dozen of them wrapped up in the clear bag with a red ribbon keeping it sealed. The bowl was just filled with the usual ice-cream that Wrath insisted on giving to him so he ignored it. The strange, small white cup on a saucer however, was a different matter entirely; it had piqued his interest purely out of what Wrath was trying to make him drink just to irritate him this time. It definitely wasn't lemonade in that kind of cup, or anything Wrath had tried to force on him before.

"This still isn't milk, Wrath. Do you enjoy being stubborn, or are you trying to spite me because I do not have faith in your futile endeavours?"

"That is 'tea', Pride, there _is _milk in it, as well as sugar. I thought you would appreciate that at least." Pride only stabbed his spoon into the small spheres of ice-cream and ate a teaspoonful. "As you know ice-cream is made from milk, so I bought you that too." Wrath was being awfully impudent, but since Pride had promised not to object any more for today he continued to ignore it for now. "And that is the new milk chocolate, Pride. I think the name is enough of a clue as to its added ingredient." Sarcasm too… Well, at least it was only his own wages that he was wasting on the senseless things. Rather than outright refuse them and be wasteful Pride popped one of the chocolate squares into his mouth and waited for it to melt. It seemed that chocolate had an interesting, if unique taste, a barely there taste, but it as sweet enough to be agreeable and nice enough, and Pride took to leisurely taking another two or three from time to time in between his tiny spoonfuls of ice-cream. He still didn't touch the tea at all, more than assuming it to taste horrendous with whatever concoction the milk had been blended into to form such a thing. The cup was so peculiar though, ostentatious but not to the point that it became unbearable to tolerate, the soft floral patterns circling the top of it, flowers of pink and yellow and a faint blue spread out over it, their pale green stems intertwining. The saucer that it sat on was painted with the same intricate patterns, completely identical down to the very last leaf.

The fact that they would craft something with such an insignificant purpose so lovingly, with such a desire to make sure it was perfect, and despite it probably being in use at the café for some time it was still in near flawless condition. Pride didn't understand it, why did they value it so, for the container of such an ugly beverage such as this 'tea'? With its horrible brown colouration and the unsightly steam that was rising from it, was Wrath trying to scald him? Wanting nothing more than to be done with the whole business Pride screwed his eyes shut and took a gulp of the no doubt repulsive liquid.

He almost choked at the taste, very few things truly had a taste, and certainly not one that was so unique and different and yet still firmly cemented in what was familiar and soothing as _this_. It was sweet and creamy but not cold like milk, more like the warm milk Lust used to make for him to help him sleep (as if he ever needed help sleeping…). But the tea burned a tad as slid down his throat, but it was a brief, pleasant kind of burning, and it bled down in a steady stream that warmed from head to toe. The other ingredients only enhanced the taste of the milk, the hints of it just rippling beneath the surface, and for a moment Pride wondered if he should ever desire to return to milk alone ever again. All these things together calmed him, and he set the cup down gently (though not before taking another mouthful) down on its saucer with a contented sigh. Pride even smiled a little, his irritation just melting away into nothing. Wrath flashed him a knowing little smirk, as if he had known that it would affect him in such a way.

"Do you like it, Pride?"

"Quite. It is…bearable for a human beverage, Wrath, so bearable in fact that I consider it relevant enough to…implement into my act today. No doubt the people of Amestris value it enough to believe me to be innocent and sensible to purchase the rest of my newspapers. This will be useful in preventing me from appearing odd by not attempting to sell them." Returning Wrath's smirk with a much happier, childish grin Pride pushed himself off his chair and scooped up his newspapers.

With Wrath watching him and sipping at his own cup of tea Pride bounded off into the middle of the street, pulling his hat down over his eyes. In an endless stream of nouns and adverbs he wove his rambunctious chatter, his fanciful strings of words and phrases of unbelievable weight and declared it to all who would listen.

_This 'tea' will be the next big thing before any of you can realise such. Do not underestimate the heights that its popularity will soar to! One day you will become so spoiled by it that you will even forget how much it is to be treasured!_

And it seemed the humans agreed wholeheartedly with his feigned (of course it was only feigned), childish admiration for the new luxury drink, and they stayed to observe his antics for a few moments, and thinking him perhaps the slightest bit amusing they asked for one of his newspapers, which he only humbly gave to them for the most reasonable price of but fifty cenz with the widest smile. It seemed even the poor of Central were able to understand its relevance and importance in current society, and most likely in every society to come. Pride continued his act until he grew marginally out of breath after shouting for so long and took to merely retaining his smile, and after a while he pottered back to his table to take another sip of tea, nearly all gone now. Wrath was glaring for whatever reason, but Pride simply ignored him and returned to the street, he only had two newspapers left so he had might as well get rid of them before he helped Wrath with his searching. Wrath's footsteps followed close behind his own, and Pride turned with a calm, relaxed and vaguely drowsy 'hm?'

"Pride."

"What, Wrath?" Was he too impatient to let him sell just the remaining two papers?

"You are embarrassing yourself for no reason." Pride only kept smiling, shaking his head. How could Wrath not see that he was doing exactly as he had promised before?

"Children are allowed to do degrading things from time to time without realising. Such is their ignorance to what is acceptable; I am only playing my part in that aspect of my act as a poor downtrodden but chirpily optimistic child to perfection where appropriate." Wrath hovered closer to him, his brow tightening with his usual constant indignation.

"There has been tea in Amestris for over two centuries, it is _not _a new thing and everyone is aware of it. We import it from Xing; it is an unbelievably profitable business, Pride. Why do you want to make yourself seem so ignorant?" He was almost growling the words out from between his teeth.

"Oh? Then why do they still agree with me so? Why do they not simply ignore me if they find me so misinformed and foolish?"

"They're only amused by your ignorance. Stop this." Wrath reached out, as if to snatch at him, or tug him closer. The idea itself was more than foolish, what possible threat of violence could Wrath do to him without causing some sort of sca-

"You two stop arguing right now!" A young woman who Pride presumed to be the owner of the sudden voice pushed in between them, holding her arms out at her sides as she turned to face Wrath, as if she was trying to stop Wrath reaching him… "Let the little one have his fun, he's doing no harm." Pride leant around her, seeing only Wrath's already irritated frown deepen into something much worse. Pride wondered how Wrath could ever function around his comrades if he was so easily annoyed at the simplest things.

"This does not concern you, wench. You should have more sense than to impose on things above your social class and gender. Move along before you try my patience even m-"

"How dare you talk to me like that! That might work with all those tarts at the bar but it certainly wont with me! I won't have you thinking that you can treat us folk as you like just because you've got a uniform and some star shaped pieces of metal! No respect for anyone, the lot of you." Pride stood, utterly frozen in place, his hand clamped over his mouth to hide his impossibly wide and silent gasp, and for once he wasn't sure how he could possibly react to what had happened. The sound that had pierced the air and the patch of red forming on Wrath's cheek made it obvious enough. This human woman had the audacity to slap him, to treat him only as another human and admonish him for his impolite remarks. While a jittery, half hysterical laughter bubbled up in his stomach at the sight of Wrath receiving his first human defiance from such a human as she, there was a much more pressing issue that emerged first and made him cringe and shiver with dread. This would _not _end well, Wrath wouldn't tolerate something like this for even a moment, but Pride could not afford to have him doing something terrible in broad daylight, and so he steeled himself to take the most discreet of action when the worst inevitably came.

…It never came. Wrath, looking more dumbstruck and speechless than anything, scuttled with stiff, uncomprehending steps back to the café table, not saying a thing or looking back once. The woman calmed noticeably as he left, and turned to him with a much more pleasant expression than what Pride would have expected. She had soft, pale brown hair pulled gently behind her into a loose ponytail, and there was something kind in her green-grey eyes Pride thought would be far to incongruous with whatever unquenchably fiery rage that she contained to evoke any reaction, but at the same time he didn't doubt for a second that Wrath's reaction had been anything but genuine. She brushed at her plain white apron (the same flawless white as her shirt it seemed); batting at it and straightening out the slight crease on her long maroon skirt that almost touched the floor before she leant down slightly to see him better.

"Well now, are you ok? Don't let him bother you like that; he's just a rude little military pig like the rest. Are you sure you're fine?" Pride nodded with his meek little grin, and sheepishly offered her a newspaper. He might as well try to salvage at least _something_ from what was a terribly embarrassing situation (for Wrath at least).

"Oh, well, thank you, that's really sweet of you. How much will it be, I'm sure I have enough change in here somewhere."

"f-…fifty cenz, i-it is…" She dug through the pockets on her apron, and produced five ten cenz coins.

"Sorry it's not exact." The woman smiled warmly at the very sight of his own meek one as she let the coins drop into his hands.

"That's alright, Miss…" One of the newspapers slipped from under his arms, and pretending not to notice it he passed her the remaining one instead without hesitation, it felt rather light in comparison to the other, but that was surely only because it was the only one left…

"Dryden. I hope to see you at the café sometime, hopefully when _some people _aren't there of course." She scanned over the front of the paper, but her gentle smile faded immediately, and without moving she held it out to him. "This is the wrong newspaper, look at the date." Pride looked over at the date, and he almost blanched, but to even think that he would react so much during his act was… "I wonder how something like that got mixed in with the others." He wouldn't dare react while Miss Dryden was still here, and he scooped up his dropped newspaper and switched it with the _wrong _one instantly, bowing his head to look apologetic.

"H-here you go. I…I'll go take this one back right away. I'm sorry for giving you the wrong one." She nodded and walked into the café, giving Wrath, who was still moping and mortified in his seat and nursing his tea as she went another glare. With her gone Pride's smile dropped into an irked frown, and he looked over the paper with his own half glare.

_The Central Daily Gazette_

_November 5th 1712_

A small square of green fell out from the bottom of it onto his shoe. It was worn and dusty but still shone like the silk it was. It bore the mark of Amestris in its pure embroidered stitching.

_This wasn't in there when I…_

Oh, the depths that Lust would sink to, to continue to claw and rake forward the past in random scraps that meant nothing at all to him, only to present them to him through deceit. Was she really that dense that she thought these things would be of any relevance now? Denser still she must have been to even think that he cared about such things enough to even go through the _effort_ of reacting.

But when had Lust ever done anything but cling to what was long forgotten and better left that way?

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**November 17th 1878**

"Well, first off you need to stop calling her a 'wench', and then maybe she'd stop slapping you." Pride stopped as the sound floated in from the door and echoed along the corridor. He should have known Wrath would have gone crawling to _them_ after what had happened.

Three weeks after the incredibly embarrassing incident with that strange Miss Dryden Wrath had decided that it would be the best to _try again_. For whatever reason Wrath had considered that the first and only woman he had met during his search would be suitable, even with how the conversation had progressed into her being offended to the point of slapping him. Pride had thought that Wrath would have reacted terribly to the action, but he only seemed to appreciate that she had `not been submissive to him immediately; apparently it had surprised him and that made her 'interesting'. From passing the café during the past few weeks Pride had determined the woman's identity in more concrete detail. She was one Lenore Dryden, age twenty-one, mostly unimportant and on staff at the café. She worked everyday on varied shifts but only worked afternoons on Sundays, and as Wrath wanted to make his reappearance on the same day as he had met her that was all Pride had told him. The fact that he had called upon _their _knowledge to help him confused him to no end, and for now he remained outside the door and was content on waiting for him to leave.

"Make her feel special, don't act like you could have any other woman with a click of your fingers. She also seems to not like the military, so let her have her opinion or else you'll get another crack 'round the head for forcing your opinion onto her."

"Be sure to compliment her arse too! That usually works." Of course Envy had to say his piece on the topic, as if it was his place to know anything about marriage and charming women.

"Thank you; I'll try my best this time."

"Don't be worried, Wrath, if she has a temper even half as bad as yours I'm sure she'll fall over herself for you eventually. Money too, human women like money, like you spoiling them with a lot of money, but if that's all she wants then you've got a problem because people wont respect you with that kind of wife."

"It seems really complicated…but still, thank you." Pride could hear Wrath shuffling closer, and stepped out into the corridor.

"The arse, Wrath! Just talk about her arse!" Envy called after him as Wrath caught sight of Pride and began to return to Father's room at his side.

"**I wonder why you insist on taking their advice about trying to entice your potential wife, Wrath." **Wrath didn't react physically in any noticeable way, only carrying on with even steps.

"I just wanted to be more…prepared for my meeting with her today."

"**I doubt following any of their advice will end in any remotely positive way, but suit yourself, I am only here to allow you to search for wife, and now that you have chosen I shall help you no more."** Pride would still humour him, for today at least, and said no more about it. Maybe once he was shown the error of his ways for a second time that he would finally give up on this futile fantasy of his.

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"But what should I do?"

"Just make sure she knows you like her, wink at her or something. If Lust and Envy's advice was that helpful to you then you won't need my help, so I'll merely observe and not disturb you." Leaving Wrath to his own devices Pride took his seat at the opposite end of the inside café to watch at a casual distance that wouldn't raise suspicion, he was merely a curious child and nothing more.

_She _was there behind the counter, of course, the subject of Wrath's obsession, and the one he had vowed to make his wife. The infatuation with her seemed utterly ridiculous considering the terms they had met on (the red mark had faded faster than Wrath's wounded ego had), but it seemed some lewd and human part of Wrath enjoyed the woman's unstable temper and decided upon it being the perfect type of woman he wished for. Knowing nothing of such things Pride just put up with it and was only here to watch him fail yet again.

It seemed Wrath was taking his advice, and was winking his uncovered eye every time she caught sight of him, and sometimes even when she wasn't looking. It seemed she was taking no notice at all,

"Here's your tea luv." She placed the cup and saucer down at his table with her usual smile. It was amazing how composed she could be when not around Wrath; she only ever had kindness for him, for all the other patrons in the café from what Pride had always seen of her. She didn't own the café of course, she was merely one of the many workers there, but still she was the only one Wrath was interested it. A common girl if ever Pride had seen one. "Lots of milk an' sugar liked you asked."

"Thank you, Miss Dryden." He said as he paid the fifty cenz for it, and sipped at it for the sake of appearing well mannered, and like before it refreshed him completely, and he decided that he would soon deduce its ingredients and introduce it downstairs as soon as possible.

"Nice t' see you around again." With something of a mischievous smirk she leant down and whispered to him. "Shame that rude man's here again, isn't it?" She sighed as she stood up straight again. "Can't help but feel a little sorry for him at the same time though, with that dodgy eye of 'is." Pride tilted his head at the statement, confused.

"'Dodgy', Miss? What do you mean?"

"Well look at him, his eye's twitching like no one's business." Miss Dryden only motioned towards him; it would be far too impolite to point. "Maybe he's got an infection in it." Pride should his head with a giggle.

"Oh, no Miss. I think he's winking, at you in fact. He must like you." He nodded with an assured, childish certainly. She seemed less than convinced.

"_Like_ me? He's got a funny way o' showing it."

"I'm sure he's sorry about what happened. Why would he still visit this café if he didn't like you?" Miss Dryden probably wasn't that stupid as to not see the ulterior motives to Wrath's appearance here, and mulled it over with a quick shifting of her eyes to Wrath and back at him.

"I suppose…he'll want serving anyway soon enough so I'll go see what he wants." She needed no more encouraging, and Pride watched her go, taking another sip of tea. He was merely the spectator to Wrath's farcical attempts to court the woman; he might as well make sure things didn't get _too _out of hand when he made a fool of himself again.

Wrath smiled as she approached, mouthing something that Pride couldn't determine, and he saw her nod accordingly. They went on for a few moments, him saying things to her and vice versa, all which he couldn't catch, but it seemed to be going well enough. Perhaps Lust and Envy's advice was the slightest bit useful in some respects.

Looking rather pleased with himself at managing to keep the conversation going for so long without incident Pride saw him clear his throat, like what he was about to say next was just _that_ important he felt the need to.

With that completely confident determination noticeable even from this distance, Wrath spoke, and motioned towards something behind Miss Dryden.

She didn't reply to that, she just remained silent, but little things gave her away, the twitching in her fingers, the slight quivering in the shoulders that conveyed nothing less than a smouldering fury.

…and she slapped him again, shouting just like before and shooing him off effortlessly.

Pride took a long sip at his tea as he watched her return to behind the counter with a huff, calling after Wrath, telling him to 'get gone' and becoming dangerously close to throwing a cup through the door at him. He scoffed and shook his head, allowing himself a giggle at whatever idiotic thing Wrath had said to offend her again. Well, he should have assumed as much beforehand.

If he was listening to Lust and Envy's advice then how could it have ever gone any other way?

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**March 31st 1880**

With how things had progressed since that Sunday afternoon Pride thought he really should have expected it. Wrath was as determined as he was optimistic, so the very idea that he would even possibly give up after a mere two attempts with Miss Lenore was ridiculous apparently. While Pride had grew tired and had assumed it would all blow over eventually he had stopped escorting Wrath to the café and watching him fail, Wrath had remained as tenacious as he ever was.

Even being _here_ now was a testament to that. At least now, as Father had given him what he so desired then he would return to the way he used to be.

The sun was still rising steadily, at a strange forty-five degree angle to the floor, the sky still retaining a faded remnant of the crimson hue on the horizon, but otherwise was completely the pure blue as it should be, specked with dozens of small, fluffy clouds, so like the creature Pride had heard of called a sheep. The weather was favourable for the time of the year, and he thought that perhaps this was the best Wrath could have hoped for.

_Wednesday best of all…_

Part of Pride despised the idea of waking so early in the morning for something such as this, but they were required by law to hold the ceremony at no later than ten o'clock, though given Pride's role after the ceremony he had been awake for far longer, sleeping through all of the day before so as to wake at two in the morning to carry the preparations out as a favour to Wrath. The drowsiness didn't manifest on his face in any form, and from the front of the crowd he bounced on the soles of his feet happily. The wait was tantalising as much as it was somewhat tedious, but being fashionably late was the thing to do these days so he thought nothing of it. At least because of the occasion he was allowed to shed his gaudy, tattered paperboy clothes and had returned to his flawless tailored suit.

The simple coach arrived, carrying Wrath and his 'friends' from the military. Wrath hadn't the taste in fashion or the sense to purchase a nice suit, and walked out in his military uniform, hardly anything different except that he had bothered to wear his medal. The military always made a big fuss of weddings, which would explain why the church filled with her friends and family and his 'friends' was already full, and why fifty or so people were just waiting outside anyway for afterwards. Lust had probably wormed her way inside too knowing her.

A few other men followed behind him, one of which Pride assumed would be Envy to play the part of the Best Man, which seemed to be the most important person of the Groom's ensemble. Wrath gave him a brief glance and a nod, and Pride beamed warmly back, holding up what had been asked of him just to show that he'd made good on his promise. A few people cheered, some of them calling out jeers in good humour about 'King Bradley' finally 'pulling' after so long.

Ten minutes later the other carriage pulled up. In complete silence they all watched her step out, with her long, pearl coloured dress, veil trailing down to her feet and train extending far beyond that, stretching out behind her in a lace stream. What Pride assumed to be her father took her by the hand and led her forward. The dress itself was rather simple, but perfect all the same, it split into two down the front, pointed pearl triangles folded one after the other through it. A plain white ribbon held it tight high around the waist, no doubt keeping the corset from moving, as if that was possible. She was holding a bouquet, simple too, filled with white roses and lilacs and other flowers Pride didn't know the names of.

She didn't look at him, not once, didn't even see him beneath the veil; she didn't recognise him this way, in these clothes, which was for the best. Her hair was pulled back like always, but it fell down her back in ripples and tight curls. It was… an acceptable look at least. Three or four bridesmaids trailed behind her, carrying bouquets similar to the one she was holding, only smaller.

Once Lenore and her train and the rest of her entourage had stepped through the doors they were as quickly shut, and the remaining group surrounding the path started to chatter and gossip between themselves. Now came his part.

Pride bent down to scoop up a few of the small, pastel coloured bags Wrath had given to him the day before, all in soft tints, blue, red, green, indigo, lilac, orange. There were five of each colour, and their particularly ingenious lids (merely a clever trick of the folded paper) were closed like one would an envelope over the front to keep their contents in until the precise moment.

He handed them out, fifteen on each side along the line to the person at the front, those on the side opposite him received the greens and indigos and oranges in that particular order, while his side received reds and lilacs and blues respectfully. Of course he had chosen to give himself a lilac bag, and he continued to stand patiently, still excitedly bouncing from one foot to the other.

When Pride thought about it, collecting the confetti had been rather straightforward, Wrath's request for him to find small petals of some sort to stuff into the bags to throw over him and his new wife after they had officially got married. The correct solution had come easily enough to him.

Obviously sacrifices needed to be made. Namely the lone tree in Central Park that had mysteriously been stripped completely bare of all its blossom overnight. Monotonous as it was at the time, raking his shadows' teeth along each branch and catching the blossom as it fell had been rather satisfying in the end.

After about half an hour the doors opened for a second time a joyous shout ran through the crowd, confetti boxes were quickly opened and at the ready for when the new couple were sure to emerge. When they finally walked out Wrath was actually _smiling_, the only true smile Pride had ever seen him form, and he knew he'd probably never see it again. Well aware that he could never reach to throw it as far as the others Pride threw the contents of the box in one, the small plume of faint pink raining over them for a moment. The silver wedding bands glittered on their fingers as they went, walking down towards the wedding carriage. Whether that would lead to the reception party or straight to the train station for their honeymoon Pride couldn't be sure, but he wouldn't put it past Wrath to skip out the party to avoid seeing his 'friends'. Wrath had mentioned the name Briggs in passing once (hopefully that was somewhere warm where they could escape from the somewhat blustery March weather), but even Pride had no idea where they would go for the week or so. He knew that Wrath probably wouldn't return home for a while, if he did at all for the next few weeks, he probably had a house with his new wife waiting for him in Central somewhere. Obligations or not he couldn't afford to not live with her without it causing suspicion, so he had grown out of the need to remain with Father, in that respect at least… Pride had to admit that it would be strange, not seeing him just _there_ all the time, but of course he didn't really care about…

Most of the women in the crowd were crying, dabbing at their eyes with square pieces of linen and muttering about how happy they were for them. If they were so happy then why were they crying? It made no…

But even so his eyes had welled up with…something too. How absurd to think that he could possibly cry at such a pathetically human occasion. But of course, this wasn't a purely human wedding, it was Wrath's too. He knew that there was no point in trying to deny it, and Pride sniffed quietly with an equally quiet smile.

Perhaps he was the… tiniest bit happy that Wrath had finally achieved the one thing he had wanted, and with Father's approval too.

Hopefully now things could return to something of normal again.

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I'm back to two weeks now, since I'm starting back at sixth form next week, hopefully I wont die beneath all the work ^^;


	53. Nostalgia in New Experiences

A/N: Another giant chapter incoming, and all because of that bloody overgrown first scene! I don't know how that happened it just happened…

Now, this chapter is probably really strange somehow, I don't know it just feels that way for me, because the day before I was going to start writing it (Wednesday, I'm lazy like that) my laptop died ;_; so this chapter was written in a mix of on my super old computer, my grandad's friend's notebook (writing on a notebook is hard) and at the school computers x_x Also the notebook did not have word so there's probably a billion mistakes there from my horrible key aim since I've also had my nails cut x_x; ok excuses over I'll let you all murder me later.

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-fan:

Yes, yes you should have anticipated Matthias's horrible horrible murder as soon as I even mentioned his return, you know that's my style ^_^ At least Pride didn't kill him super gruesomely, and if it's any consolation Pride didn't even enjoy killing him, since there had to be no blood ^^;

I'm glad you liked the newspaper callback, and the callback callback, planning chapter 24 and Wrath's meeting with his wife while writing chapter 15 was a good move after all ^_^ Yeah, Lust is still trying to mess with Pride to get his attention, their relationship is so sad that way ;_;

lol doesn't Envy just. I didn't make that up either, Arakawa said in an interview that Wrath got his second slap from taking Envy's advice about 'complimenting the [woman's] body' XD

I do like mellow tea loving Pride, he isn't here much this chapter, I hope he comes back soon ;_;

Velgamidragon:

Aww, yay, I'm glad you liked Pride being all sentimental and stuff, and yay, Wrath's finally hitched~ ^^

D12T:

It made me happy too, as did your review. Nothing like my feelings for this chapter, I'm still mourning my laptop lol ^^;

Anne Camp:

I wish I could have shown more of their relationship since I adored writing it, but I really doubted Pride would keep following them around after Wrath failed twice, not to mention it would look suspicious of the same paper-boy kept stalking them.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Fifty-Three: Nostalgia in New Experiences**

**August 28th 1893**

It was an unusual sensation, to be travelling at a marginally uncomfortable speed on a peculiar animal constructed from wood, unusual, but not unpleasant. That wasn't to say that it was something that Pride would wish to repeat any time in the near future, and it certainly wasn't an experience that had warranted the extortionate cost of 200 cenz for the little over two minutes of time he had spent on it. That being said Pride found the Gallopers to be interesting it its own unique sort of way, with its collection of carved and brightly paints creatures scattered over its circular base - there we mostly horses, but closer to the centre other things were dotted about: oversized chickens, a Xingese styled dragon or two, a pig designed for a smaller child, but Pride had settled on one of the regal looking birds with blue bodies and a vivid array of painted tail feathers that were apparently called peacocks. Only the horses had names, plaques carved into their necks and adorned with all sorts of ridiculous things, as if animals, whether fake or not, even deserved to have names at all.

Wrath watched him step down from the raised platform where the carousel was planted for the day, he probably could see the slight unbalance in his gait, the idea that he was dizzy from it was absurd, he was merely a tad unsettled from the experience, it was only understandable with what the ride entailed in its motions. Now that he was safely on solid, unmoving ground again it was only a temporary inconvenience that would dissipate soon. The grass was still fresh and vibrant and a perfect healthy green, as to be expected from the military ensuring it was kept in flawless condition all year round. It seemed the population of Central, as much as they demanded technological advances of every kind to keep them happy, they weren't as keen on the constant growth that was eliminating the countryside around the middle of the city, and it was from their many pleas for such that the military had been gracious enough to provide them with a large open space that was open to the public for no fee. Central Park, as it was aptly enough named, seem to answer their desire perfectly, even if Pride had hardly visited it at all since its creation, besides his nocturnal visit where he had stripped that one tree of its blossom so many springs before (the tree had recovered seamlessly enough, though covered in leaves again now). With its wide collection of greenery, flowers and trees and a lake or two within its five hundred acres Pride doubted they would ever find anything to complain about in regards to it.

Whether Wrath noticed it or not he said nothing, smiling a slanted smile as Pride reached him. Pride hadn't seen him watching as he moved around on the carousel, even from the faint blur from the speed there he could have picked him out effortlessly.

"How was it?" The unsightly brush of thick black hair above Wrath's lip twitched as he spoke, but Pride was used to it by now. Moustaches were expected of Fuhrers somewhat, of those that had come before most of them had bore a moustache, so it was only appropriate that he had grown one too, however pre-empted it was, it having started growing in a few months after he was wed. Pride had to admit that he was quite pleased with Wrath's progress thus far, still having no sense he was wearing his heavy military coat, at least now he actually had the possibility to become Fuhrer, hopefully before too long, but they'd been patient for eighteen years, another two or three or four was acceptable for now.

"It was quite interesting, Wrath, that humans have taken such an interest in this 'carousel', even though its only purpose is to entertain them for a few short minutes, but it was satisfactory for my first experience with it. Why didn't you have a go? There were plenty of adults riding on it by themselves. Did you find it too degrading for such an esteemed Major General as yourself to partake in such things?" They strode through the set out paths without any real sense of direction, merely enjoying the sights and the unusually bustling atmosphere in the park, even Pride walked along with a tiny smile, his claustrophobia keeping itself quiet despite the crowds that filled the park on such an important day. The exact date changed from year to year, but it was bound to the last Monday of August - the day to commemorate when the 'Sage of The East' had found the struggling country of Amestris and bestowed upon them the secrets of alchemy, the single act that had ensured Amestris's current and future success. Most only thought it a legend, but everyone celebrated it regardless. Pride couldn't recall if Father had told him the day he had founded Amestris when he was young, or even the month or season. The simple humans had no possibility of remembering such an important event, and probably had only assigned it to August to take advantage of the summer weather for such an important festival. The Central Summer Fête had a certain agreeable sound to it, so it was probably for the best that it take place now rather than any other time of the year.

"I did not think it appropriate of my station, and it doesn't seem too appealing, considering I could _run_ faster." He was old enough to be sensible and to have long stopped making stupid statements, so Pride allowed his sarcastic remark even though Wrath was aware that the ride was intended for all ages, so could not be too fast, humans were ever so fragile that way.

"And what did you do to occupy your time while I was there? I know you left me to do whatever else instead of being patient. Where did you go?" Wrath looked down at him from the corner of his eye, the mischievous glint flickering through it, and Pride knew he wasn't going to tell him, not yet at least, and he let him have his way of wanting his petty secrets.

The local photographer was scurrying about, wanting to perhaps sell his photographs to the newspapers in hopes of making a profit on them if he ended taking a picture of someone of relevance on a fluke. Like he was cursed Pride had wandered into a group at the start of the fair and ended up at the receiving end of the camera's flash yet again, but he was so used to it by now he had spontaneously formed a flawless smile out of instinct, as if he had been expecting such a thing to occur before it actually did. The man gave him another glance, but recognising him from before he moved on without a word, off to find other things he found interesting enough to photograph.

Pride knew that going anywhere near the travelling Menagerie that had parked up in Central park for the fête wouldn't be the most sensible idea, riling up whatever dangerous, exotic animals had been brought with them wouldn't end well at all. Why humans would try to control wild animals and put them on display rather than enslave them so they could do anything useful was a testament to their idiocy, if they could see paintings of the creature why would they feel the need to see it in the flesh and risk dying? It didn't matter anyway, painted along the large wheeled containers they arrived in were elaborate depictions of them attacking their prey and whatnot, their species name in large shimmering gold letters: Tigers and zebras and camels. One trailer had a baby elephant following behind its parent on the side, its trunk wrapped around its tail affectionately so it didn't get lost, something that looked like a dishevelled brown giraffe with striped legs stood at far end where the colours blending from yellow to the dark green of the forest painted on the edge of it. Whether he understood the reasoning behind it or not, humans seemed to enjoy it, which was the whole point of the fair in the first place, to keep them amused and content with what they had for the time being, so Pride knew to just ignore it and enjoy what he could during his act as well.

A human called out through the constant bustle of the fair, ushering anyone who would listen to him closer and shouting something about that being brave enough to even _dare_ to consider entering the small and easily transportable House of Mirrors, probably because of whatever simple minded human incapability to understand common sense when surrounded by mirrors or something so utterly human like that. Pride didn't find the concept interesting enough to warrant paying three hundred cenz to visit just the once and passed it by without a second glance.

Along the edge of the path where the fête had not planted another ostentatious attraction several humans had set up a picnic, families chattering amongst themselves as they shared sandwiches and cakes that they'd probably brought with them to avoid the costly food of the fair. One child from one of the mats played with a kite happily, weaving in between each, making it impossible to tell who the child belonged to. As Pride watched them enjoy each other's company, he wondered, for a moment, why Wrath had come here alone.

"Why did you not bring your wife along with you? It's a bank holiday so I doubt she would need to work today, especially since it seems like most of Central is here." Something flickered across Wrath's face again, but it wasn't mischievous in the slightest, and even the tips of his moustache drooped.

"Lenore wasn't feeling very well today, I offered to stay with her but she insisted that I attend the festival, and she isn't one to argue with. She's probably resting now, curled up on the couch with a book. She'll be fine after a day or two, I'm sure of it." He perked up to his usual indifference, though there was a certain warmth in Wrath's words that Pride had never heard outside of when he was talking about his wife. Even though they'd been married for thirteen years Pride still would never understand what Wrath saw in her that was different from any other human, but there was no point in arguing a choice he had made those years before, so long as it gave the public the correct opinion of Wrath it was nothing of concern.

"Is that so? Well, many humans become ill during the summer, it's nothing to worry about, Wrath." Knowing that that particular topic of conversation had exhausted itself, and that Wrath was most likely unwilling to share the rest of his personal life as King Bradley with him, Pride dropped the subject and carried on along the path. It seemed that he liked to keep what he did in his act to himself, much like Pride himself did, even with how much the camera liked to follow him around, at least Wrath could escape with a little privacy in that regard.

After walking aimlessly along the busy paths and the almost completely occupied grass surrounding them, as the sun began to fall from its high afternoon peak they came across something as interesting as it was a terrible reminder for the both of them. Pride grimaced a tad at the sight of it, though it only showed as a slight quirk in the corner of his mouth. Wrath didn't say anything, only gave him a look, as if he thought he couldn't remember.

The elaborately decorated wooden Shooting Gallery stood looming before them, as if even it _knew. _The three targets stood out even from this distance, two of them currently occupied, and the collection of prizes for success lined across the shelves either side each target. Pride knew he would have never gotten any better at marksmanship, even if he had remained at the facility until Wrath had been born, it just wasn't something he cared about enough to even desire getting better at. That being said Pride had seen Wrath being equality as terrible in his youth, so what did it matter?

Still, even seeing a rifle again was so peculiar that part of him wanted to see whether others were just as useless at shooting, if the game wasn't fixed at least, which wouldn't surprise him. Pride wandered closer with Wrath following in even steps behind, still not showing any opinion one way or the other. The stall owner flashed him a put-on smile, a far too obvious put-on smile, like he just considered him to be another source of income when he wasted all his cenz on attempting to win whatever object that had caught his childish eye. How presumptuous of him. As far as quality went Pride had been expecting much worse wares on offer, but that just meant that the game was so fixed that the owner had made enough money to purchase such appealing items, which would only serve to entice more people on his travels. It would have been ingenious if it wasn't so disgusting, not such a sign of how devious and sly humans truly were to their own species. Pride just returned the smile completely, leaning on the table that held the rifles and bouncing a little on the balls of his feet excitedly, pretending to jump from one thing to the other with a boundless, endless childish wonder.

"How much is it to try?" The man was rather tall, with a sly sparkle in his eyes. He wore a tattered looking grey top hat with a long curled feather tucked into the side.

"100 cenz for one shot, 250 cenz for three. Hit the Gold and you can have anything at all," the man motioned at the whole four rows of prizes with a theatrical sweep of his arm, like he had repeated the sentence thousands of times over with identical enunciation. "hit red and you can have anything from the middle row," he pointed to the simpler prizes: a box of tea-leaves, a small ceramic pig ornament and a few wooden farm animals. "and hit blue and you can have some chocolate for your trouble." The plethora of four chocolate squares wrapped in tiny clear bags lined the bottom row. Pride reached into his jacket pocket for the correct amount of cenz, still grinning.

"Ok, I'll-" Wrath dropped the 250 cenz on the desk with three little thumps.

"I will take three shots." Pride scowled at Wrath having the audacity to interrupt him, but just ignored him. If Wrath wanted to make a fool of himself by displaying his horrendous lack of skill in marksmanship then Pride wouldn't stop him. He stepped away to give him more room, folding his arms with a barely contained scoff. He had never got a chance to see Wrath's failures at the facility, but now he would be able to have a perfect view.

Looking far too confident than what Wrath was capable of he lined up the sight of the rifle, aiming at the gold ring in the centre, ambition was always one of Wrath's strong points, if he hadn't such a trait he wouldn't have reached the rank he was now. Even then the ambition was futile here; ambition wouldn't get him anywhere if he hadn't any ability at it. Pattering little footsteps sounded behind him, until they were at his side, no doubt staring up towards the stall as well.

"Oh wow, a shooting range, and look at what they have, more bears!" Pride looked up, he hadn't noticed any bears before, but the chirpy voice was right. Hanging on small hooks were small little bears, with light brown fur and dark eyes. He'd never seen such things before, little dolls but animals instead, how curious. One was clothed in a simple pale blue dress decorated with white flowers, the other in a black waistcoat and a top hat. Apart from their clothing they were identical. They were...interesting.

"Oh, can I have a go, please Daddy, please please?"

"Wait until your mother gets back. It's all of our holiday; she deserves to enjoy the fair as well. I could try while we're waiting, just to see." A more gruff and yet still caring voice answered the younger voice, no doubt the father.

"Ok! I'll be 'betterer' at it though, for sure!" Wondering if the child could not get any more over confident Pride turned to see who exactly it was.

It was a girl, with hair of the most inky black pulled back into two plaited pig-tails. She wore a sun hat with a sapphire blue ribbon around the brim and a dress of the same colour, wrapped with a pale yellow ribbon around her waist and tied at the back. A trim of the same colour ran along its edges with thin lace. In her arms was a small bear, only marginally smaller bear than the one hanging at the stall, the female one, with dress. Pride recognised it; he _had_ seen the bears before, at the extremely unfair bagatelle board on the other end of the park. Beside it had been the table showcasing new inventions, but the only thing of interest he had seen was a strange mess of metal wiring that had electricity running through it so that it could burn bread to make toast that the creators had named The Eclipse. Pride doubted such a thing would be safe, and had no use for one anyway so had passed it by. The other side of it had been a 'magic' show displaying something with alchemy, and for the sake of the still failing economy Pride sincerely hoped it wasn't the production of gold.

"But this boy was here before us so we'll wait for him to have a go." She nodded in his general direction, meekly understanding for the sake of being polite. Wrath had already fired two shots, both of which had completely missed the target never mind the gold circle, it was already a certainty that the final attempt would go likewise, even with how determined he looked.

...It hit dead centre easily. Pride winced with a much more expressed grimace. Wrath had been teasing him by pretending he was still terrible at marksmanship. No matter, it wasn't like it was of any importance, at least whatever thing he chose would be automatically given to him for Wrath to remain in good grace with him and protect the hierarchy, which was all for the best.

"Looks like we have a winner. What do you want? You can choose what you like."

"I want the bear. The one in the dress." There wasn't a second of hesitation at all, like he'd already decided on what he wanted before he even considered playing at all. A bear was fine, Pride could appreciate the thought of it at least, especially with others watching Wrath would want to appear genial even with a child who wasn't his own; they could always pass him off as a relative if need be. Melting further into his act Pride hopped up and down as the human unhooked a bear from its peg, and handed it to Wrath with his insincere grin. Now all that was left was to wait for Wrath to give the bear to him and then they could continue on normally to explore the rest of the fête.

...any minute now...

The moment never came. Wrath held the bear close to his chest with a smirk.

"I think Lenore will like this as a 'get well soon' present, don't you think?" Pride nodded beneath his disgust, but letting Wrath think that he even cared in the first place was too shameful, so he just placed the 250 cenz down on the table as he should without a murmur. He still wasn't sure how to hold the rifle, and if he was careless it would rebound into his eye like all those times before. It was going to be shameful regardless, but Wrath had most certainly done so as well, so if it was just the once he could...

"Aww, isn't that romantic, to be given the bear as a gift from someone like that?" The girl squealed into her stuffed bear with a giggle. Why she wanted another bear when she already had one seemed absurd, but if her family had enough money to holiday in Central for a few days then they had enough to spoil her no doubt. Pride needed to focus though, unseen beneath his sleeves two pairs of shadows wrapped around the rifle, holding it tight in place to prevent any recoil whatsoever. Another slipped along the barrel flattening to support where the bullet would travel, ensuring that there would be no margin of error. That still didn't stop him from the most minute flinch as the rifle fired, even with all the strength of his shadows wrapped around it he'd never truly get used to the noise and the forceful recoil. The shadows faded away in an instant, still unnoticed. Pride didn't need to see, he was already sure, however shameful it was at least he could be sure.

"I want a bear too, but the boy one." It was all that was appropriate, to match his jacket (which he'd removed in the summer warmth, it hanging over his arm) and his trousers, his red bow tie, right down to the new spats covering his shoes. Pride hugged it close to him, nuzzling with a delighted grin into it, blush rising in his cheeks, not out of actually winning the bear, but the fact that he had actually fired a rifle without embarrassing himself, whether he had used his shadows to assist him or not was irrelevant. Why should he not be permitted to use them?

The girl congratulated him with a series of excited and barely understandable babbles combined with clapping, her sun hat almost falling off. When she calmed down she stared at him, still smiling, looking...almost hopeful, wanting something but never being so trusting as to believe it until...

But Pride wouldn't oblige her, not for a moment, and he only pressed it tighter to his chest protectively, and pulled away from her. If she really wanted one she could get one herself. He walked off without another word, Wrath following behind.

Later on, when bright amber streaks began to creep into the sky, the two homunculi sat at one of the many tables in the park, four seats, both bears seated opposite each other.

"I don't think it's that important really, Pride. It's just what I won." Wrath set it down on the table, almost dropping it, but a one glare made him place it much more gently.

"Won from what, Wrath?" Pride looked over it tenderly, almost smiling at it, wondering where it had managed to come from so suddenly.

"While you were on the carousel, I played the 'guess how many marbles are in this jar' game nearby while I waited. And as it happens I won this...thing for guessing correctly." Pride pulled the 'thing' closer, running his finger along its edge, its smooth, perfectly round edge, how long it had been since he saw one last, nearly two hundred years before, but it was exactly the same as it had been back then.

"I don't think you can comprehend its importance, Wrath. This must have been so expensive to purchase...I suppose that they hadn't anticipated anyone to win so they could sell it for a profit when they moved on. I doubt you could call that winning though, since you must have used your eye to calculate how many marbles were contained in the jar in the first place."

"I merely used my assets to my advantage just as you did. I did not see why I should hinder myself to accommodate them. Why should I not utilize my Ultimate eye ensure my success." Pride raised his eyebrow at the ridiculous term Wrath had given to his ouroboros marked eye.

"Did you give that name to yourself, Wrath?"

"Well, when I first asked Lust for advice with Lenore, she told me about her 100th birthday, and that Greed, before he ran away, had made up nicknames for him and Lust that reflected their abilities- she was the Ultimate Lance and he was the Ultimate Shield. She gave me one too for luck. Don't you have one, Pride?" He shook his head, more at his disappointment that Wrath had let himself listen to Lust's childish, insolent ramblings more than to answer him, of course he didn't have one. But he wouldn't let Lust sour his mood when she wasn't even here, and thought it better to change the subject.

"Cut the melon, Wrath, so you can be educated in the relevance of their perfection in taste and appearance and how superior it is to all human sustenance." As if he knew that continuing on this topic line would be foolish Wrath nodded and cut the melon into eighths with his sword obediently. Wrath was not one so stupid as to not see the importance of the melon past his first bit of the slice, and Pride pulled a cube off, grinning as he popped it into his mouth like he did all those years before.

"Did you like it, Wrath?" He respected him too much to try and hide it, and nodded as he took a bite from the slice. Well, it wasn't like he had a say in the matter anyway. After two slices each they decided to save the other half for another time, the sun had drooped lower and stretched their shadows out over the grass. The main attractions ending Pride watched the humans file out, most with souvenirs and countless other things in hand. He caught sight of the Central Times reporter scribbling something down in his notebook at the table nearby, no doubt he was going to weave an elaborate tale of the fête's success for tomorrow's morning newspaper.

"So, are you going to take that bear home with you, Pride?" Wrath probably already knew the answer, Pride was sure of it, knew that he couldn't possibly and was spiting him, purely because Wrath had been selfish and not given the bear to him and had forced him to pointlessly obtain one himself. Well, he wouldn't give him the satisfaction of having another bear to give to his ever precious human.

He turned in his chair, staring out into the stream of humans, squinting to try and find, even if it took him until ever last human had left, that certain—there she was, her dress swaying in the gentle wind, her bows tails drifting slowly behind her. There was still only that female stuffed bear in her arms. Pride wasn't taking any chances, and bounded after her immediately; snatching up his own stuffed bear with one hand. He wouldn't let her think it was anything but kindness, and he held it out for her with a reluctant sigh.

"You can have it; I can't take it home with me, and you really wanted one, so…" She gasped, covering her mouth.

"You'd give it to me, really? That's so nice of you! Now they can be a couple." The girl stepped closer, forcing the two stuffed creatures to shake hands. "Thank you so much, I always wanted two of my teddy bears to be friends, and now I have. It's the best holiday ever! But… I'll never be able to repay you now, since I'm going back home tomorrow. How about I meet you here then, so we can talk s'more? I'm Rebecca, by the way."

"I don't know if I can…but I'll try." He wouldn't, but it was better to keep her hopeful. Pride watched her go, and waved after her, not _to _her of course, but to the strangely sophisticated ursine that he'd almost owned.

He was rather sad to see it go, actually.

0 * 0 * 0

**October 17th 1900**

Even now it was still rather hard to believe, that Wrath had become Fuhrer over five years ago. He'd been there of course, saw it with his own eyes and observed it all with a delighted smile that Wrath had finally achieved that which he was born to do. After the peculiar and very sudden case of _heart failure_ that had struck down the aging Fuhrer West in the summer of 1895 the only option to consider had been strapping, charismatic and all around perfect Major General King Bradley. All had gone to as they wished, and Pride had been determined to relish in every second of it, that they were even closer to completing Father's Plan, even the sudden photograph from the _Central Times_ reporter didn't ruin it. Wrath had overhauled the stigma on gender, and allowed women to sign up to the military, leaving him to be considered a visionary that could only bring Amestris into a brighter and more illustrious future.

But that was in the past, and with only fourteen years and a few months left until the Promised Day other things took precedence over Wrath maintaining Amestris's morale- like actually finding sacrifices for Father. A fifth alchemic laboratory was beginning construction, next to one of Central's prisons to provide them with a steady supply of souls when needed. Another Crest of Blood was already in hand; Wrath had annexed the nation of Ishval and annexed it into a part of Amestris in order to prevent a more widespread conflict. For the most part there was little motivation to start a war at the moment, but a series of giggling and vague ramblings from Envy of some terribly ingenious and 'fun' idea for the year after that he had concocted had more than convinced Pride that Envy was going to do as he always did and be the instigator for the bloodshed that was to follow.

**"What is this, Wrath?" **Pride ran his finger along the round silver thing, it bore the flag of Amestris, the lion-dragon with thin, precise patterns of the same silver, it must have been expensive to produce such a thing. There was a watch contained in it too. Wrath hardly came to visit anymore, so whatever he had come for it must have been important.

"It is the current design for the new 'State Alchemist' pocket watches. To allow us to select suitable alchemists to be potential sacrifices we shall set up the State alchemist program, so the alchemists will join the military, bringing them to us effectively. They would also be under the jurisdiction of the military, so we would be able to utilise them in conflicts as well." It seemed like a solid enough concept, but Pride didn't say anything one way or another, concepts were all well and good but was what if there were no alchemists willing to join the military? No piece of silver was going to convince them otherwise. "We have already chosen a potential state alchemist, a Tim Marcoh working at the third laboratory; he has vast knowledge of alchemy, particularly in the medical field. When the time comes we may be able to force him to perform human transmutation."

**"I will discuss this with Father for you, Wrath."**

"Thank you, Pride." And Wrath turned on his heels and left without another word on the matter.

After he was sure Wrath was gone Pride lay back down, holding the watch by its chain up above him, letting it sway there, musing, lazily watching the light reflect in the silver and his blurred, distorted reflection staring back at him.

Alchemists owned by the military, how interesting.

0 * 0 * 0

**February 8th 1912**

In Wrath's act as Fuhrer things were still progressing as well as expected, only two Crests of blood remained to be formed, though with only three years left in which to form them Pride hoped they would be created sooner rather than later, but he trusted Wrath's judgment completely on such matters. Public morale was still as high as it ever was in Central, at least in the relevant and important parts of Central that actually had an effect on things, which was all that mattered, so long as Wrath remained respected and adored, but still revered in a quiet fear as well, it was the only way humans could be taught to be anything near reliable, then everything would work out fine. For the most part everything seemed to be running smoothly and perfectly in every way possible. That, however, did not seem to include Wrath's wife in the matter.

It seemed Wrath's wife was a social butterfly by nature, in her youth anyway, and she flourished in the company of others, which life as the Fuhrer's spouse had provided for her, but even then she was the smallest bit curious about her husband, and as such had asked to meet at least some of his family, no matter how distant, and it wasn't something Wrath could refuse. The results of such weren't really lies either, in a strange way.

They were only too happy to oblige Wrath for the afternoon, posing as some distant relatives of his, Lust and Envy and himself, adopting the roles they had once before during a meeting with the first Fuhrer of Amestris, but it still felt rather natural, and of course Pride's act was as impeccable as it ever was. He peeked out from behind Lust's legs, where he'd hidden himself bashfully away as soon as he'd stepped through the door, shy would work best here, let her drop her guard and allow her to act maternal to him, be the mother she'd never been nor would ever be because she was Wrath's wife through every fault of her own. She looked so much different now, it was to be expected, humans aged so quickly even in only three decades, soft wrinkles were beginning to cut into her cheeks and her hair had faded into a dirty blonde. Her eyes were similar enough, that bottomless pit of rage absent from them for now, and hopefully for the duration of their visit.

"Aww, there's no need to be shy, I won't bite." She looked down at him with a faint, gentle smile, stepping gingerly closer.

"Pay no attention to him; Selim's always like this around new people. He'll be fine after half an hour or so." Lust ran her hand through his hair with a small chuckle at the lies she was weaving so effortlessly, as if they hadn't not been speaking to each other for several decades, it all came back to naturally to her, as if she could actually care.

"My, Selim, what an interesting name that is." There was no point in creating a new fake name for himself, Selim had always been sufficient in the past; it could be equally as sufficient now. Pride poked his head out for a second time, miming a 'thank you', but still unwilling to grow any bolder than that, still tucked close to Lust's waist. Behind her Wrath was beginning to scowl, growing tired of their game far too quickly, he never would be able to perfect his act if he got bored of keeping it up for any substantial amount of time. He would need to be taught just how long _they_ were capable of sustaining it for. Well, they hadn't the time to waste for very much longer, and Envy could hardly be expected to remain impeccable for so long anyway.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you, Lenore, I'm Solaris, and this is my husband… Shaun." Lust shook her hand, light blue gloves covering her real ones, them stretching high enough to be covered by her fluffed up shawl as well, keeping her secured in her act without any of her true clothes showing besides her shoes. "You've already half met Selim, I'm sure he'll come out soon enough. Tea usually coaxes him from anywhere."

"Oh yes tea of course. You must be parched from travelling so far to get here; I'll ask the maid to bring it into the tea room now. We can stay there for your visit today if you like, is that ok for you too, Dear?" Wrath huffed out something that was a most likely a yes, like he was becoming too irritated with them to speak properly. How ungrateful of him, as if it wasn't him that had spouted nonsense about his wife becoming suspicious if she didn't meet some of his family _immediately_ after she had requested such, and that they simply _must_ do him this as a favour to him lest everything unravel and be ruined, as if they did it for any such stupid reason as that. They had agreed to this on Father's orders and nothing more than that. Stepping out from behind Lust Pride inched himself closer, keeping his head down and nervously staring at his shoes, he couldn't be too confident too quickly, he still needed to remain distant and apprehensive of everything. He reached out nervously, waiting for her to take his hand first.

"I…i-i-it's nice to meet you…Mrs. Bradley."

"Nice to meet you too, Selim. Now, I'm sure you're tired travelling so far from home, do you want to have a rest in the tearoom with the rest of us?" he forced a tiny smile, nodding.

The tearoom didn't seem to be anything of much interest. Wrath and his wife sat on two seats at one side of the tea table, while Envy and Lust and himself squeezed onto the couch opposite. Envy pushed at him irritably to try and get more room on the cramped sofa, until Lust lifted him away lest Envy do something he would definitely come to regret. Wrath's wife set her cup of tea down.

"How old are you now, Selim?" Pride was far too occupied with nursing his third cup of tea to answer, and waited for Lust to inevitably answer for him before it looked like he was being ignorant.

"He's going to be eight in May." Using his real birthday? How original of her. "They grow up so fast don't they? It feels like only yesterday he was so small and…helpless," she faltered, and Pride looked curiously up from his place on her lap, how could she fail at her act mid-sentence? Lust recovered, burying her fingers in his hair and forcing a laugh. "but now he's so independent, hardly needs me looking after him at all…I guess it's selfish of me to say that I miss when he used to rely on me for everything, isn't it?"

"Not at all, it must be bittersweet; to be fawning over them constantly one minute and the next they're all grown up." "We can't have children, so we'll never be able to understand, but I like to think that I can empathise at what it must be like." She sighed, bowing her head, not really talking to them anymore. "We realised it early on, and it's down to me, not King, so there's no one I can really blame but myself." Pride didn't truly understand it, he knew that homunculi were infertile, but the intricacies of that were something he had never cared to discover, but he knew enough to see its effects as far as Wrath was concerned now, and that he had forced his wife to believe it was a problem with her instead of him. "I think we've accepted it now though, and we're content with just having each…" Wrath took her hand in his in the gap between the chairs, giving it a comforting distracting her, and he shot them all a very infuriated glower, but she was so wrapped in her melancholy ramblings she'd never notice. How was it their fault anyway, she was the one who had brought the topic up. "Oh look at me talking rubbish again, pay me no mind." Pride just let his smile droop a tad, he wasn't meant to understand what the sensible and sophisticated adults were discussing, so he let it go over his head and didn't say a word, only glancing around, and wilted in his boyish boredom, leaning against Lust's chest, and her hand slipped around his stomach, affectionately pulling him closer.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but medical alchemy is developing all the time, so maybe…"

"Oh no, I'm much too old now anyway…and besides, I shouldn't force my problems onto you, Selim seems like a wonderful boy, I know you must have been raising him exceptionally, so I'm happy for you two all the same." He felt Lust nod above him, an insincere, trying to be curt and understanding sort of nod; Lust probably couldn't understand such things as desiring children either, so there was no possibility of them feeling even the smallest bit sympathetic for Wrath and his wife's very human plight, regardless of the cause being Wrath's species. Knowing that the subject was exhausted, and that if they carried it on for much longer Wrath would only do something foolish, Pride emptied his cup of tea with an undignified gulp. Not wanting to make a fuss he held the empty cup on his lap, Lust still holding him close, like she never wanted to let him move again. In Lust's lap again, for the first time in what felt like forever, what probably was, the only sign that such a thing had ever happened at all was the blurred, barely there memories of the past, only feelings of warmth and love and a complete contentment with everything. But all that was only proof of how weak he used to be to have accepted such things from Lust of all people, and every part of him wanted to push her away and put her in her correct place, but it was an impossibility during his act, and there would be no point pursuing it later, so he accepted it with a sigh. It certainly was not that same warmth from before that flickered faintly somewhere inside him that prevented him from resisting, not at all. It simply was not worth his time to think about, how could it possibly be?

Envy, who had been reserved and silent for the better part of their visit, passing it off as constantly needing to clean his glasses or adjust the bow wrapped around his ponytail, finally cracked in the silence that followed, and decided to speak up just to break the tension.

"So…how did the two of you meet?" Envy knew all too well how Wrath and his wife had been acquainted on the worst of terms, Pride had been there to see it first hand, and had watched Wrath humiliate himself as he relayed the story to his siblings on both of their meetings that had ended atrociously. It was far too obvious that Envy, with the mischievous smirk tugging the corner of his mouth unbelievably high, threatening to shatter his youthful but fatherly façade, if Wrath's reaction to Envy pushing at him wouldn't do that first.

"Oh, now that _is_ an interesting story, I don't know where to begin really, it all happened so fast and before I knew it I'd married. I guess you could call it fate. Well, it was a lovely October day many years ago, I was young and prettier back then, but not as beautiful as you Solaris of course." Lust waved off with the expected reassurance that she was sure that she was beautiful as well, and that she shouldn't sell herself short even at her age. "So, I was on my way to work my afternoon shift, when all of a sudden I hear this-"

"It's long story, one for another time. You said you needed to be leaving soon, correct?" It seemed Wrath did not wish to repeat the elaborate tale of how they had met, and cut her off with a dismissive growl. Pride flinched away from the aggression as he was expected to, returning to his previous nervousness. That unbearably livid gleam began to creep into her eyes,

"How can you say that? They've only just arrived and you're shooing them off like they're not wanted." but even so she turned to them with the same cheeriness she had possessed throughout their meeting. "You three stay as long as you please, it's no trouble at all." She looked down on him, as his apparent fear and bent down to talk to him in a friendly whisper. "Don't you worry about him; he isn't this grumpy all the time."

"We need to be going anyway, so it's fine. Thank you for allowing us to visit again." Lust lifted him onto his feet and set him down and putting his cup on the table, then dusting off her dress with her spare hand as she reached to shake Wrath's Wife's hand again.

"Not at all, it was a pleasure to meet you, it really was. If you don't mind me asking, how are you related to King again? He never said, and here I was thinking he hadn't any family at all, so it was such a pleasant surprise that we found you through King's connections. He works ever so hard as Fuhrer, I'm glad that we managed to have some time with family once in a while." Envy shook her hand too, but walked around the back of the couch to join him so he could avoid awkwardly walking past Wrath. Lust paused to think for a moment, not sure how to really answer the sudden question.

"Oh, I'm his…" Pride stopped himself from rolling his eyes at whatever horribly spontaneous relation Lust was going to make up. "…Mother's cousin's auntie's stepfather's great great great niece. Once removed." There we go. At least it was so convoluted that his wife wouldn't dare question it. "So that makes Selim…just a distant relative, to keep things simple, I don't want us here all day digging through the family tree. We're all pretty wide spread; it's hard to keep in touch with anyone these days. I haven't met any of the family since…at least since before Selim was born. But family's family no matter how distant, we're happy you managed to track us down in the first place. I can't tell you how surprised we were to receive a letter from the Fuhrer himself inviting the three of us here, and that we're actually related!" If he didn't stop them now they could carry on talking for hours, which clearly Wrath hadn't the patience to endure, and letting him be awkward and ungrateful he tugged impatiently at Lust's hand. "Oh, it's ok Selim, we're leaving now."

"Well I hope you can stay in touch the best you can, and thank you for coming to meet us. We'd be happy for you to visit any time you like, wouldn't we, King?" Wrath only grumbled something again, but for his own sake Pride ignored him, waving shyly at his wife before latching on to Lust's hand as she led him away.

"Phew, that was boring!" Envy stretched his arms with a yawn as he returned to his preferred form now that they were outside the house. The almost none existent light of the just rising moon barely trickled over the wall of Central Headquarters, keeping them hidden from sight if there were any humans around in the first place. "The nerve of him, we stick our necks out to do Wrath a favour and he treats it like we forced ourselves in without asking! It's him who begged us. Are we not good enough to meet his precious human or somethin'!? Last time I do anything for him." Pride would have agreed with Envy wholeheartedly, but to agree on such a matter with his younger, less sensible siblings did not feel like the right thing to do if they were to ensure they all remained in the correct hierarchy, if any of them turned against Wrath he would be seen responsible for not teaching Wrath properly, which would be...

**"Calm yourself, Envy. Father ordered us to assist Wrath and we did so without hesitation. His inability to tolerate our act is his fault alone; we did nothing we shouldn't have." **It was infinitely easier to highlight their own success than Wrath's insolence and disrespect. **"I doubt Wrath would be willing to allow us another audience with her anyway, I'm sure he will not call upon us for such a menial favour again, which will be for the best. We should return to Father now and inform him of our observations today."** At least once they returned home Pride would finally be able to get out of the terribly ostentatious clothes Lust had chosen for him to wear for the day, the same ones she'd had tailored for him to wear at Wrath's inauguration. A light blue jacket with a terrible pale red tie seemed to be a ridiculous colour scheme that only a child who didn't know any better would be allowed to get away with, but given his high status as one of the Fuhrer's rather wealthy relatives it wasn't something anyone could question.

"Oh, I'm not coming back with you two." Envy tilted his head at Lust's sudden statement, blinking through the dark.

"Why not, Lust?"

"Father wants me to travel East to visit some run down little village, to find someone to trick into helping us someway or another. I need to go now, since the next train to East City leaves in an hour so I can't waste any time going home to pack. Don't worry, Envy, I'll be back for you and Gluttony as soon as I've had a good look around, ok?" Envy seemed to understand, part of his most likely wondering why he was not informed of Lust's mission, but accepting it.

"Ok, Lust. See you later then."

"Bye, Envy." After giving Envy a quick hug she turned to _him,_ like she was actually going to speak to him, to even dare to be so insolent to their unspoken promise and...

"You'll tell Father that I'll be back in a week or so with my report on my progress, won't you, Pride?" but still she dared, and stared down at him with eyes still so sincere and respectful and trusting. Pride didn't give her the satisfaction of any answer, and just nodded with a scowl. If Father had ordered it then he would inform him as he should, but purely because it was Father's will and nothing else.

"Thank you." Lust stepped close to him, as if she wanted to be even more impudent in any way she could, and he hand reached out, but whatever wretched thought she had died instantly and she let it droop. She forced herself to stand straighter, her mouth setting in a firm, emotionless line. "Goodbye, Pride." She walked off, not expecting him to reply, as if talking between them was actually necessary at all. He watched her leave, his mouth twisted into a tighter scowl. But even then, he wouldn't be accused of being ignorant or disrespectful to her while Envy was watching; he couldn't take that risk ever again. So he called after her with a grimace, breaking his promise as she had hers with the greatest reluctance. He'd do it just this once, just once and never again.

**"Goodbye, Lust."**

He'd be content if he never saw her again anyway.

0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0

Phew, hopefully my laptop is fixed in time for next chapter ^^ because of all the trouble I had this week writing this I'm sorry if it isn't as good as usual ;_; Once my laptop's back I plan to fix it up ^_^

Giant overgrown scene one managed to eat the other two scenes I had planned for this chapter, and now they are cut forever. The first one would have been Wrath's inauguration doubling as Pride's final photobomb of the fic, but it was cut because I felt that Pride couldn't do much but watch and there was nothing I could have done to make it that interesting or long.

The second scene was where Pride would have been in Central in 1910 and would meet Barry in his Butcher's shop, where he would recognise him from his spying around in the shadows from time to time, and consider if he could be of use to them in the future. This would also have been a quick time to make a reference to the similar appearance of Barry's wife and Lust, with Pride describing Lust to Barry and Barry saying that it sounded like his wife, since in an interview with Arakawa she said that Barry's wife looked almost identical to Lust. This scene just got devoured because of the monster word count. Sorry Barry cameo ;_;

See you all next chapter ^^


	54. a Necessary Home away from Home

A/N Two days late *shaaame* D: but I managed to slog through and get it done yay ^_^ laptop's aliiiive now, so all is well again, me drowning in schoolwork not withstanding.

Previous reviewers:

Anne Camp: naw, being punny is fine, in fact, I'm convinced that Barry's name itself is Arakawa being punny, since the katakana for Barry's name (BARII) is kinda similar to the word barabara, which is a word used in Japanese police reports where the victim has been dismembered or chopped up. ^_^ I kinda couldn't slow down because of how much stuff I have to cram into these remaining six chapters dealing with Pride being Selim, but I'm glad you felt the super speeding was ok ^^

D12T: Aww shucks, that's real nice of you ^_^ and yes, poor Lust : (

Moofy-Fan: The melon returns~! I always wanted it to come back sooner or later, so then seemed like the best time ^_^ I like Wrath and Pride's relationship toooo, but I'm worried about how it's gonna go down when they start living together and competing for Mrs. B's attention D: Yep, so bittersweet that last scene, but I did want Lust and Pride to have one final scene together that ended on a really final note just to be sure ^^

Shade40: You know it~ I'm happy someone caught that, I don't even know why that came to me as I was writing, I just was like "hm, made up relation" and boom, Yzma came to mind immediately ^_^

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Oh, just a quick warning everyone, if you see this '_ſ_', it is an s, it appears at the beginning and middle of words, but not at the end and not for capital letters ^_^

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Fifty-Four: a Necessary Home away from Home**

**March 2nd 1913**

It had been a while, but at the same time it seemed like only yesterday that he did this. The sensation was as ever familiar and a tad unusual even after all these years. Pride trickled his way along the brightly illuminated walls, not making a sound. He slithered past Sloth, still digging, almost two years away from the Promised day and he still hadn't finished. But Father had reassured him that Sloth would complete the tunnel at least six months before the Promised day arrived, so Pride didn't concern himself with it. Father would never be wrong about something so imperative to his Plan.

"HELLO, PRIDE…" Only the smallest pause and a quick ripple along his shadow was the response, and Pride carried on past him. For now at least Sloth was of less importance. Soon enough he slowed as he found them, the two dozen or so humans working ceaselessly on the tunnel floor, far too busy to notice him watching with a single squinted eye as it drifted through his shadow. He didn't really see the point of it, but if it helped Sloth work more efficiently Pride saw nothing wrong with it. Such menial work was the only thing humans were good at anyway, laying tracks for carts to pull the dirt from the tunnel away. Besides, when they were finished setting down all the track for this part of the tunnel they would become obsolete, overworked and of no use to anyone anymore, nothing more than intruders after that, and Father would not mind, no, Father would _praise_ him for his initiative, if he were to simply dispose of them all in one moment. A tiny excited shudder ran along his shadow, all the way along until he felt even a minute twitch in his container however many miles away.

Something tugged at his split consciousness from afar, dragging him back towards it with the utmost urgency despite how calm and even the voice echoed along to him. Seeping back into his container as gently as he could, he looked blearily up to who had pulled him back. Sitting up straighter from his dazed slouch he smiled.

"**Good morning, Father."**

"Good morning, Pride. I have interrupted your observations because I have a new, far more pressing issue I wish for you to attend to. "

"**Yes, Father?" **He pushed himself to his feet without a moment's notice, waiting patiently for whatever Father desired of him.

"It pertains to Wrath. As the Promised day draws ever closer I am…concerned, and I believe that, as Wrath was created from a human, his residual human characteristics may reemerge and he may show a certain reluctance as time goes by. I believe this may be some relation to his affinity towards his human spouse." Pride nodded, part of him should have seen something like this coming, they should have never allowed him to choose his own wife who he could get pathetically attached to, especially not if Father feared that it would make him anything less than completely devoted to the plan.

"As such, I am instructing you to undertake an observation, monitor Wrath's behaviour from now until the Promised day. For this I want you to covertly take your place in Wrath's household as the adopted child of the Fuhrer. This will allow you to spend a great deal of time around Wrath. You will report any unusual or disloyal behaviour to me immediately, do you understand?" Despite the perilous, tenuous situation Wrath's potentially treasonous actions may cause should they prove to be true, Pride smiled inwardly at Father's new use for him, something that only he was capable of doing.

"**I understand, I will observe Wrath during my stay there impeccably."**

"I will arrange adoption papers to be forged by Lust soon enough, so discuss the proposal with Wrath under the pretense that it will help the morale of the public if the Fuhrer is considered to be a caring father. Do not let him believe anything otherwise as to your motives. I expect the very highest standard from you, Pride." Father would have never accepted anything less from him, and with that always in mind Pride nodded again, and bowed low before him.

"**Of course, Father."**

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**March 14th 1913 **

He didn't say a word, didn't look up, didn't force a smile or a frown, didn't anything. He had mourned, or rather pretended to mourn, once before, but that had been a fleeting affair that had lasted a brief hour or two, and such would not be suitable in this case, where he was expected to maintain his façade until the Promised day. For now he would remain apathetic and confused, like a child in his situation should be.

Wrath's wife watched him with sad eyes, like she didn't want to believe it even now, even after he was here and everything would soon become official. Perhaps she could not understand how such a tragedy could befall such an innocent, carefree child as he was, that it was somehow unfair and he should have been immune to those kind of things. Pride hadn't been there to see Wrath explain what had happened but knew he would have relayed the information to her in the most appropriate and sympathetic of ways, one that painted him in the most pitiable, wretched light that would capture any woman's compassion. A fire was what had been agreed, the sudden conflagration that had consumed the Fuhrer's only living relatives' house in a single night, and the parents of dearest Selim with it, leaving the poor child all alone with naught but the orphanage to go to. Nothing more than that had been necessary, and it was a testament to her naivety that he sat again in their tea room now, though alone this time, ever so alone and confused with tears pricking behind his eyes. It had been far too easy. Looking lost without his doting parents at his side on the couch he glanced around, shoulders slumping as he didn't find them. So soon after the terrible accident it was easier to say that he didn't know yet, and there was no time better than now to question what was inevitable to come out. Pride wearily raised his head and chanced it, the smallest hint of something hopeful ringing in his voice.

"W…Where's Mother and Father? Are they still at the doctors'? Did they get hurt in the fire? Can I go visit them? When will they get better?" With each question Pride could see every wrinkle form around her mouth as her frown deepened, and her own tears of the greatest sympathy began to form in tiny droplets. From the other chair Pride could see Wrath's poisonous glare, not that she would ever notice it in the state she was in. Did Wrath not understand that this was all necessary? He may have been toying with her terribly human emotions, but it all part of what ignorant and painfully naïve questions that were the norm for a child in such a situation. She cleared her throat, trying to keep her composure, and leant forward.

"Selim, please listen now. This is very important." Pride pushed himself to sit up straighter, blinking, confused at why she had suddenly become so much more serious and sombre. Wrath kept glaring. "Your parents were hurt in the fire, hurt very much. I know that the doctors must have tried very, very hard to help them the best they could, but…" Her mouth twisted tight into a distraught grimace. She didn't want to say it, but if she didn't say it now Pride doubted she'd ever muster up to courage to ever again. He knew that she could remain composed though, even in her occasional outbursts of rage she had managed to control herself soon after, such trivial a thing as death should have been easier enough as well. " They died, Selim."

"How, they were fine until the fire, how did they get sick?" A child of eight, no matter how unintelligent, should have understood the very concept of death, so he only focused on the why, for without the why of it all he would only come to blame himself and surely she could not allow such a thing to befall him in the midst of the tragedy. Shaking her head slowly she stepped around the table, coming to sit beside him, brushing at his cheek and making him look at her.

"They didn't get ill, Selim. It was the fire. They're gone. I'm so sorry that we didn't tell you sooner." Pride didn't say anything for a moment, waiting for it to have probably sunk in, and as it did his eyes widened in a mix of devastation and disbelief.

"Who…who will take care of me? If they're gone then I'll be all alone!" He cried out, hysterical, denying it in any way he could but always knowing. "I can't stay here, I want to go home!" She was patient, attentive even, and again she reached out, trying to ground him in what was real and comforting.

"We will look after you, Selim, we are family after all. We only want to take care of you and ensure that you'll be happy here…" He didn't want to accept, _wouldn't_ accept it, and he pulled roughly away from her, huddling up into himself on the other side of the couch, getting as far away from her as he could. With any embarrassment or shame pushed aside the unbearable anguish overwhelmed him, and he wept into the couch's arm. As if knowing it was pointless for now to attempt anything more she let him be, and the room fell into a deathly silence.

The silence persisted in its perpetually uneasy and yet somehow appropriate state for longer than was tolerable. The tears had slowed now, and from his inconsolable ball on the couch Pride remained as morose as he was expected to be, eyes down and roaming aimlessly from one thing to another, anxious and jittery and so utterly _crushed _that any action was more trouble than it was worth. He could feel her powerless, pitying gaze on him every so often, but never daring anything beyond that, as if she had already realised how futile her efforts would be. Here again, in this room where he'd only ever been the once, what she thought to be so suddenly after the death of his parents, nothing could be achieved in the way of comforting him tonight. He forced out another tear, sniffing as if trying to stifle his pitiful sobs.

A shrill cry from the cuckoo clock tore through the silence. Still his head hung low and sullen, ignoring the noise and whatever time it was, it was of no consequence to him nor should it have been.

"Oh, eight o'clock already…"

"It's eight o'clock? But I always go to bed at seven...Mother would always tuck me in and…" Another tiny sniffle at the thought, loud enough so that she would hear it. She inched her way across the couch, and from the corner of his eye Pride could see Wrath's gaze following her, intrigued almost.

"Well, today's been a busy day, and we didn't know what time you used to go to bed." Wrath's wife leaned close to where he was turned away from her, patting at his back gently. "But that's ok, you can sleep in tomorrow, you must be so tired, travelling all this way." The pat moved along until her arm was wrapped across his back, growing bolder and rekindling her previous efforts of comforting him. "Come, I'll show you your room and you can have a nice rest. Would you like that, Selim?" He didn't move his head even a fraction towards her, but still murmured a reply, voice cracking again.

"…O-ok." She helped him to his feet, arm still around him. They passed Wrath by without a glance, there was nothing that needed to be said to him, to notice him would have been more peculiar than simply ignoring him.

Outside the door she took his hand, easing him along with that soft smile of hers same as it ever was, but it was marred, fractured a hair with worry for him for some strange reason. He wasn't even her child so why did she care? What would she gain from pretending she cared even the tiniest bit for his well being? Pride couldn't understand it in the least, but settled for distracting her with more melancholy actions as they took slow, cautious steps down the stairs to wherever they had chosen his bedroom to be. His shoulders shook and his head sank low again. He turned away from her, not wanting her to see his pinking cheeks and his still flowing tears. No child would want to be seen crying, nor would any human wish to see such a pathetic spectacle. Pride flinched away as she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, and her feeling it stopped and knelt down to his level.

"It's ok to be upset, you know, don't feel as though you need to bottle everything up." She cooed it in a quiet, gentle whisper, like anything louder would be too much and make everything worse. "We won't be angry at you for being sad; we only want what's best for you." How could she not mind his childish, idiotic theatrics, how could she completely abide them without a word as if it was the most obvious thing in the world? Pride just nodded glumly like it was the only response he could muster at her…unexpected behaviour, and she continued on showing him to his room, settling into the silence again as if nothing more needed to be said on the matter.

All the walls of the corridors were dull and plain and identical in every single way, white with the smallest hint of pearl here and there along its wooden borders at the floor and ceiling. The tacky, human uniformity of it all was almost sickening in contrast to how the quaintly decorated tea room was. How Wrath or his wife managed to navigate such bare, drab halls at all was beyond him, but given how and where Wrath was raised a part of him could understand the choice, however misguided a choice it was.

It was because of the monotony of white walls that Pride almost appreciated the change as they reached the dark mahogany of his bedroom door, the deep, rich brown appealing to him in its complete incongruity with the pure white surrounding it. With something that might have been a smile now she pushed the door open for him, ushering him inside.

The room was…acceptable for a bedroom, he supposed. He'd only ever had Lust's bedroom as a comparison on how all bedrooms should be as far back as he could remember, but this was nothing like Lust's used to be. Its previous use as merely a spare room among the dozen of others scattered along their house was obvious even through the darkness, still bare around each wall and in every corner. It felt oddly barren and desolate, and Pride forced down a shiver at the strange atmosphere of the room. Despite its size the vast empty spaces reminded him of his old bedroom, the only bedroom he had ever had back in the facility, cramped and suffocating and every inch of it _wrong._ He needed to fill it with the appropriate, childlike furniture as soon as he stopped 'mourning' if he was ever going to be believed that he could exist in such a room. Assuming his shuddering to be a senseless fear of the dark or something so human like that she turned on the electric light, setting a hand on his shoulder as if to reassure him.

"I know it looks empty now, but we hadn't the time to arrange it properly, and we didn't know what you liked. We can go shopping for toys and books whenever you like it's no trouble at all. We can even paint the walls if you want. Would you like that, Selim?" She was so unsure, so fearful that she was not behaving as she should in her role as a mother that Pride began to question why she ever desired to be one in the first place. The fact that she persevered despite her apprehension and tried her utmost to ensure he was adjusting was interesting at the very least though. But Pride thought nothing more about it and tiptoed into the room, a quiet ripple of curiosity bobbing in and out under the surface of his fear and longing, and the complex mix of emotions expected of him forced him deeper into his act, more than he had ever been required of before. The idea of it being anything more than effortless was still completely absurd.

One of the only disturbances to the bare bedroom was the bed itself, and for one of perhaps four items in the room itself it certainly created a presence about it, one that formed enough of a feeling in the room to negate the overwhelming emptiness somewhat. Its existence was probably the only thing that had prevented her voice from echoing hollowly about whenever she spoke. From this distance all he could discern was the plush, thick green quilt that draped over each side, bunching up in unsightly creases where the four oak posts of the bed frame shot up towards the ceiling. Thin cotton drapes of a darker green wrapped around the bed frame's canopy like vines or a serpent constricting a tree or its prey. The ends hung limp at its corners, and the design itself made it all too apparent that this was never purchased as a child's bed, but if it was such a recent purchase then why would they even…? Did they buy such a thing for him intentionally? Its size was evidence enough as it was, even widthwise it stretched to ten feet, and while that was far too large for an adult or two never mind a child did they wish to spoil him like this? If they could have ever had a child would she have spoiled them in this way as well?

"We bought you some pyjamas too, don't want you sleeping in your clothes now, do we? I hope they fit well enough." Pride glanced around and suddenly noticed the blue-purple blob at the foot of the bed, folded neat and perfect into a square. "I'll leave you to get dressed, and then I'll tuck you in, Selim." He watched her make her way outside, like she should, it was completely normal for him to be expected to dress himself, he _could _dress himself. But being given the option, the privacy of doing so was simply…

"Thank you." The words tumbled out from his lips before he could bite them back, and he flushed in embarrassment at the absurdity. How could he have thanked her for such a thing, such a thing that was in every way expected and the norm? She gave him a look at the peculiar remark, but mouthed a 'you're welcome' and carried on out the door. She had probably expected unusual behaviour as his method of grieving, but he would _not _be making another mistake like that again.

Pride dressed quickly and efficiently without a word, laying his clothes out beside each other on the bed and tucking his shoes just beneath its legs with his socks inside. The smooth, silk like cotton of his pyjamas clung to his skin as he buttoned the shirt up. He had never worn pyjamas before, only his nightgown, and the sensation of not-quite trousers brushing against his leg as he moved was a strange, new, but not unpleasant one, and in the dank and cold March weather in the currently absent Spring he felt he might come to appreciate it.

"I…I'm ready now." He called to her, the quiver in his voice still more than noticeable, still imbued with all the sadness that was expected of him, that should have been anticipated in his first night away from who and where he had been raised with someone who would soon take to calling herself his mother. Any adult would have seen that the fragile child he was pretending to be would have acted in such a manner. No matter how much this constantly anxious façade irked him, he would maintain it in his usual perfect way. Until he was considered to have gotten over the mourning period and was free to melt instead into his usual cheery default on how children were perceived to be at all times- happy and innocent and in every way selfish.

She stepped into the room again, stepping past him and folding the covers back. As if she knew her place and how inappropriate it would be she made no attempt to pick him up, to embrace him in any way, and gratefully Pride slipped into the bed, all the while deftly avoiding her where he could. The mattress sank marginally, almost unnoticeably beneath his weight, molding around him, a soothing cold seeping from the quilt and the mattress itself into his clothes and enveloping him in an instant. A perfectly relaxed sigh had escaped him before he even noticed and all he could see was her relieved, tranquil smile beside him.

"Do you want me to leave the lamp on for you, Selim?" He wasn't afraid of the dark, how could he be? But given his situation she might have anticipated such a thing, why would she have asked him otherwise? Pride accepted what was necessary, forcing his own dopey, hardly nervous smile as she pulled the cover up under his neck.

"If that's ok."

"Of course it's ok, Selim, there's nothing wrong with being afraid of the dark, especially since it's your first night here." She chanced a slight ruffle of his hair, and he allowed it without complaint, yawning as she did. "I'll let you sleep now." She tugged gently on the string of the lamp that sat innocuously on the end table, it glowing softly, its light and the light of the ceiling blending together. "Goodnight, Selim." His eyes having fluttered closed of their own accord he merely heard her leave, but thinking it impolite to not reply he whispered after her, a boyish, tired whisper, but it was better than nothing.

"Goodnight…" Whatever words of address he had concocted throughout the day and had deemed adequate died in his throat, fading away unspoken, where they were erased from his thoughts immediately after. 'Mother' wouldn't do, he was mourning for his old, real mother, to consider her his true mother so soon would be far too unusual, but what else was there? For the moment it didn't matter, she would not think anything wrong; she'd only assume that he was too tired to continue talking. The ceiling light faded out, and she closed the door with a barely audible click. Snuggling further into the mattress and wrapping himself tighter in the covers, Pride let his act drop slightly, and relaxed completely in his new bed.

His bed? _No, this wasn't right._

With a barely restrained scowl Pride pushed himself up, kicking the covers away. The bed may have been comfortable, and perfectly cushioned and supportive in every place imaginable, it may have been bought just for him and his role as their adopted child, but why should he be so complacent? The floor had been perfect for him in the past, in the same way a completely different bed may have been considered adequate for him, and as such this new bed was inferior. The idea that he would simply change his standards was foolish, and at worst unbelievable. Through the corner of his eye he could see the shadows flickering in the lamp light, just his own pale ordinary shadow, but even so it was distorted. He could imagine his own shadows snapping at the air, grinding their teeth in disgust at his previous acceptance, at the fact that he had even _considered_ sleeping here on the first night. But even then the smallest part of him wondered what it would be like to sleep in such a bed, even just the once. Pride forced the feeling away with a scoff, it was all ridiculous, he did not need a pillow or a quilt or a mattress to sleep. He was not so maladaptive.

Sliding out of the bed they had bought for him, Pride lay down on the carpet. He could feel the sturdy wooden floor beneath it pushing at him, and that was fine. Curling up again, he set his head down on his hands as a makeshift pillow and forced himself to sleep.

In the morning Wrath's wife found him in a huddled, shivering ball under the bed.

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**April 9th 1913**

Days had passed, blending into a week or so, and slowly Selim had began to calm, and though still in the depths of what seemed to be an endless mourning, was well on his way be coming a true, if adopted, member of the Bradley family. At least, Pride had told himself so, as was the routine he had set for himself, the little baby-steps that would bring him out of his melodramatic act and into something that was less constantly degrading.

Like he had assumed _she_ had been far too quick in noticing the minute changes in his mood over the past few days. She'd been watching him, as he pottered about, exploring what would be his new home (no doubt she was planning to arrange a personal bodyguard for him to be hired once he calmed enough to trust her), still frightened of everything, but it was a quieter fear. After his _unusual_ behaviour on the first night, Pride had heard her opening the door to his bedroom and peeking inside every hour or so after she had tucked him in, ensuring he was still nestled where she had left him and was content there. Not wanting to make it a cause for concern Pride had relented, and now wrapped himself tight in his soft bed cover cocoon. If he was being forced into sleeping there he had might as well make the most of it. A few days shy of a month after he had first entered her life in a more permanent position she had wished to get to know him better, to bond with him and allow him to settle in.

As such, she had proposed an outing, just the two of them. Having become particularly bored in his lack of routine outside of being stuck in his bedroom and amusing himself by imagining where his furniture would go once they went shopping he agreed wholeheartedly without hesitation, and what choice did he have, really? If he didn't start settling in she would think him odd which would be most counterproductive in his own task of monitoring Wrath. One afternoon away was worth gaining her trust of him being nothing but a normal, if still troubled child.

Though, in his rush to agree to proposal of an outing with her without asking where she was proposing to take him had resulted in him being _here, _of all places_._

"Now, as you can see here, this is one of our interesting pieces, given that Samuel Morse who created it later when on to greatly help the military with his _Morse Code._" The gallery curator gushed enthusiastically as he led them to the new painting. Pride had heard of this one once before, but seeing it here was strange, and he thought that someone who had a passion to paint suddenly deciding to change professions was odd."To have such a range of talents is certainly admirable, and still we think highly of his art even after forty years after his death, a true testament to his talent. Of course, such quality is what we expect here," He motioned towards them both, but more to Wrath's wife with an obsequious smile, put on. "and nothing less that that would be expected to be presented to the First Lady was well, and we hope that you will enjoy your stay here this afternoon." Pride brushed off the flattery, had he not been with the Fuhrer's wife the human would have not even looked at him never mind addressed him with such respect.

He had never taken her as one for art; despite her love of simplicity with a hint of slight detail Pride hadn't thought that she would be interested in the elaborate paintings of years past. Then again, whatever social life she must have had when she was younger would probably have been erased when she married, and she was probably too smart to be deceived by sudden hangers on wishing to raise their social status by being friends with the Fuhrer's spouse. In her lack of anything to do he didn't blame her for becoming interested in culture and other high class events, but even then he couldn't be sure whether it was a genuine fancy or merely an attempt at a suitable afternoon outing. Whatever the reason Pride could tolerate it for now. They passed a few more paintings, elaborate and beautiful in their own way, and having no skill at art himself he could appreciate it, even if they were only the humans' attempts to have something that remained after they had exhausted their short little lives, lest everyone forget about them. Humans would always be so desperate to create meaning to their existence to spend all of it devoted to their art.

The curator stopped in front of another painting; no doubt something he deemed important but was really of little importance outside of what the rich considered of them as far as standards went.

"Now, here is a particularly special painting, one we only recently received in fact. It was donated to the gallery as a gift from the prince of Aerugo in hopes of perhaps quelling the rift between Aerugo and Amestris in the wake of the Second Border War conflict."

"That was back in 1911, Selim. You might have not heard of it." She murmured to him, and Pride nodded with a smile at her informing him of such, chirping a 'thank you' back.

"While we do not know if a peace treaty between the countries will ever be formed, we are still very grateful for the gift- one of J R Arderne's masterpieces is always a welcome addition to the gallery." That name, why was the name familiar? Pride knew it before he even dared to crane his neck upwards and see, but he couldn't resist. Part of him _wanted_ to see, just so that he would actually believe it.

There it was, there _she was_. He dwelled on the painting for far too long, his gaze boring into every brush stroke: the pure white of her dress, the vibrant, sparkling sapphires on her perfect silver tiara, her violet trim. He had never seen it complete before, never set eyes on it but even so it was flawless. Had he not been more sensible he would have sworn it was her, the way she used to be, caring and obedient and undoubtedly _his_ and his alone. "Arderne was the official artist for the Royal family from 1676 up until his death in 1715, and this was his final official work for them." Pride wandered up to the painting itself- there was a large, dirty brush stroke along the left side, marring the whole picture, as if something was painted over on the original canvas. Beside the finely crafted gold frame was a small glass box, a photograph inside a corner of the back of the canvas, what the artist had wrote there when he had completed it. More curious than he should have been he squinted to make it out, like he _needed _to know what he had been deprived of for so many years yet had never felt a need to until now.

_For her betrothed before they are to be wed. - Joſeph Robert Arderne, June 30 1693 ._Our deare_ſt princeſs Sylvia, aged ten and nine. And her ever adored friend, age of centuries paſt and doubtleſs thoſe yet to come, the Great Sage's child, Pryde. _

He froze, an icy chill darting up his spine. How could…? Why had he even…? How could he have been so stupid as to write something like that, or to have the audacity to place him in the painting for all to see?!

"We have also moved her final letter to the painting, as we thought it appropriate to hold all our paraphernalia on the royal family in one place. It is here if you wish to read it." His morbid fascination with the past still consuming him Pride wandered over to the other side of the canvas and leant closer to the second glass frame.

_November 2nd 1730_

_To my deare__ſ__t Pride,_

_It has been ſo long, far too long ſince I ſaw you laſt, far longer than I ever wanted. I have left you ſo alone for all this time that I only hope that you may come to forgive me. There is no true or ſuitable explanation for why I have deſerted you ſo, I have even neglected your Father, which I ſhall ſpend the reſt of my life repenting for. But I ſhall not worry you with my peſſimiſm. I wiſh I could have ſeen you at my Coronation, but I ſuppoſe that you would have been buſy with Luſt and your Father, I know they have been taking the greateſt care of you, moreſo than I ever could. At leaſt this letter begging your forgiveneſs bares a conſolation, as I ſhall be returning to you for a few weeks with Antoine and Selim. I have ſpoke of you to Selim ſo much, and he is ever ſo excited to meet you finally. He is only eight years old now, and you know how I was at that age, ſo long ago now…_

_Antoine took more time convincing for him to allow us to vi__ſ__it you. It's __ſ__trange, he doe__ſ__n't tru__ſ__t you, but I know that once he meets you he will reali__ſ__e that all his horrible a__ſſ__umptions are completely untrue. I am undoubtedly certain that Selim will be a wonderful friend for you. Hopefully one day we can return to you forever and he can __ſ__erve your Father better than I. I know you will treat him well once he becomes King, but merely thinking about that time __ſ__addens me in the mo__ſ__t __ſ__elfi__ſ__h way, as I would have de__ſ__erted you forever by then. Even __ſ__o, my only wi__ſ__h is that you never forget about me, and that you know how much I trea__ſ__ure the times we __ſ__pent together._

_I muſt go now, Selim will want me to ſay goodnight to him, he only deſerves the beſt on his birthday after all. Do not be ſaddened, Pride, for when this letter arrives I ſhall ſurely only be days away from the time I ſhall meet you again in perſon._

_I wait on bated breath for the day when we finally meet again, Pride. _

_-Sylvie_

Baring no expression one way or the other he turned to the curator, ever the ignorant, but eager to learn child he was.

"Who was she writing to?" The curator smiled again, as if he had been waiting for him to ask that all along.

"Ah, now that is a question that has been under dispute for many years now. However, we have established a suitable theory as to what had possessed our _Absent Queen_ to write letters to this 'person', little one. You see, when she was a young child, younger than you are now, her cousin, Mary, who she was very close to, died, and in her distress she fabricated a friend to replace her." He should have always known she had been using him for selfish, human reasons. "We believe this friend to be her embodiment of Amestris itself, a young boy her age whom she called 'Pride'. There is evidence in this as she refers to him as the son of the Eastern sage, of which Amestris is a creation, and her constant wishes to return to 'him' while she was in Aerugo." But if she cared so little why did she seem so anxious in her letter?

"This imaginary friend helped her through her grief, and later on she began to create others like him to represent other parts of her troubled mind. Seen here, there is Amestris's 'Father', her obligations towards Amestris as Queen, and 'Lust', her desire to produce strong, healthy heirs to inherit the throne after her death, which given her difficulty having children was understandable. As you can see she even requested that Arderne oblige her and draw her manifestation of her friend in her portrait when she was nineteen years old. However, her husband was very displeased with such childish behaviour and demanded that he be removed from the portrait, hence the large brushstroke here where he was painted over. One must wonder what he looked like, but most have agreed that he was blond, the same as Mary was, and wore the green that eventually became the flag of Amestris once she was Queen." It didn't matter, it was all in the past now so why should he care in the least? "These delusions plagued her until her death it seems, as she was still writing to her 'friend' even so late in her life. I believe it was fitting though, for her to die in Amestris with her family, even in such circumstances, for a least she had been returned to her friend after all, even in a metaphorical sense." He looked quite pleased with himself at having relayed such a theory onto him, teaching him the arrogant human suspicions of what _she _used to be like. It was better that they believe such things rather than know anything of the truth, what did he care if she was vilified to be point of being considered insane? It was simple, he didn't care, he didn't…

Water droplets streaked down along his cheeks in warm, slow globs. Pride wiped them, and only realised what they were as he saw them sparkling on the back of his hand. The sight of them only forced a sudden sorrow to stab at him, and a pained sob burned in his throat. As always she rushed round to his front and knelt down, cupping his cheek.

"Selim what's wrong? Did the painting upset you?" The tears still pouring in an uncontrollable stream he shook his head.

"It's not that…it's just…Sylvi_a _and her son, how did they die?" They could be explained now, explained and explained away, she wouldn't think of questioning it once she realised what she'd done. It was all her fault, bringing him here.

"They died in a fir-Oh…Selim I'm so sorry, if I'd had known this painting was here I'd have never asked you if you wanted us to visit here today." She pulled him tight to her chest, hugging him close and tousling his hair. Pride let her, blinking hard and burying his head in her shoulder.

"I want to go home." He could call it home just this once. Pride wanted nothing more than to huddle in his room at the shame of how childish he was being; even through his act it was unacceptable.

"Ok, Selim. Let's go home now."

It seemed that settling in would take longer than they had both expected.

0 * 0* 0 * 0 * 0

Was the letter thing an excuse to use the long S a whole lot, probably, but I'd had this letter written for a while and never got a chance to use it, so I wanted to use it here ^_^ Also I wanted to highlight how Sylvia's letters would get misinterpreted over time and that people have started to believe that she was simply mentally unstable, which is really bad for her, but good since it keeps Pride and the rest nicely under wraps as they should be ^^

Next chapter will be on time I promise, I wont be lazy again ^_^;


	55. A Mother's Love

A/N on time~~ now to bed before I get too tired for college ^^;;

What is this MASSIVE REVIEW WAVE I see?! I love all you guys so much. As such I won't be replying here, I shall reply to you all in due course, I'm rather bogged down with school at the moment ^^;;

Only five chapters left to go, I can't believe it. But I wont trouble you with my surprise and my moping. I'll just let you read the chapter ^^

0 * 0* 0 * 0 * 0

**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Fifty-Five: A Mother's Love**

**June 9th 1913**

One aspect of his act that Pride had not thought much about was how he was to be perceived health wise, though he could not grow and was unable to stretch his container's skin for long periods of time height was not the issue, rather was he proven to be fit and well? All children who attended some form of education were expected to undertake a physical examination in school or visit a doctor at least once a year. Of course Pride would have only accepted the latter, and Wrath had hand waved the issue away as the Bradleys had a family doctor now, no doubt Father at work ensuring everything went smoothly. As such, Wrath had agreed to his wife to take _dear Selim _to his bi-annual examination in the basement.

"**So, Wrath, how did my **_**family doctor**_** get here? Did you escort him down here first?" **They walked along with brisk but relaxed steps. This was a minor inconvenience for the both of them, Wrath had work he should have been doing and Pride, well, Pride would have found something better to do, like rearrange his new wardrobe. Wrath shook his head.

"I was told by Envy that he would be escorting your doctor here."

"**Oh, Envy did?" **Envy had trouble dealing with humans on the best of days, Pride severely doubted he would have been able to direct their corrupted human through the mansion well enough without getting too irritated. **"Are you sure it will not merely be Envy himself in disguise?"**

"Perhaps it will be. I doubt the examination result papers would be too difficult to forge even for Envy." Pride smirked at the dripping sarcasm, and Wrath almost cracked a smile too. Their genial, mutual respect for each other that allowed them to partake in such pleasantries almost made Pride forget the he was only living here to monitor Wrath's behaviour lest something go awry with the Plan because of him, and it was an enjoyable, if brief slip of priorities. It had been too long since they'd last spent any time together.

At last they reached the basement door, and not sure what part he should be playing Pride slipped into his act immediately, bouncing excitedly on the balls of his feet. It was warranted, if it was only Envy he was dealing with then he could put up with his act as a brotherly teasing, and if it was a human it would disarm them enough to properly fake his results once they realised the truth, if they were not aware of it already. Pride knocked twice on the basement door and stepped away, waiting patiently. Immediately the door swung open and a blur of white stepped out.

It wasn't Envy. It definitely _wasn't _Envy. Pride recoiled so violently he smashed into Wrath, who didn't react in the least. It couldn't…it just _couldn't _be…

"Ah, hello there Bradley, it has been a long time since I saw you last." As the Doctor's misaligned eyes fell on him Pride tried to push himself even further back, but Wrath wouldn't budge at all. "And you, Number 316, it has been even longer, how nice it is to see you again. You haven't aged a day." How could this be, humans hardly lived past seventy never mind being _still alive _half a century after they had first met! This wasn't supposed to happen; Pride had never thought he would see this human ever again after he had repented to Father. The countless whys of it all buzzed in his head until he could hardly think straight at all. "I was led here by your ambiguously sexed sibling. I shall have to thank this Envy as soon as we meet again. Now, I do believe your Father has called upon me to forge a medical examination. Let us waste no time with reintroducing ourselves." The Doctor's hand crushed tight to his wrist and dragged him along, no matter how hard Pride dug his shoes into the floor.

Having twisted himself around to try and resist in everyway for as long as he could, no matter how degrading he saw Wrath, saw that Wrath hadn't moved an inch from his spot. Their eyes met but there was _nothing_, just blank and unable to feel anything beyond his own selfish shock.

"Wrath…" It came out as a mix of a desperate plea and a hateful hiss. He didn't react at either aspect.

Pride continued to fight to no avail, still waiting for Wrath to protest, even as he was halfway through the doorway he hoped that he would leave his daze and realise what he was doing. But he never did, and as the door slammed shut Wrath still looked on.

0 * 0 * 0

**September 15th 1913 **

"Selim, what can you discern from the description of the Occeals cat about its personality?" Pride leafed through back through the book a page or two to where the strange smiling animal had first showed up. It was hard to have opinion on his designated book, except that it was completely random and unusual to a fault. If it wasn't this strange Alice girl running into a grinning cat she was trying to look after a baby that hated pepper and ended up turning into a pig. While he didn't understand the reason behind any of it he could appreciate the fact that it was never boring, there was always too many things Alice was getting herself involved in for it to be anything close to boring.

"Well, the cat considers itself to be quite mad, as with the other people who live in Wonderland, and it tries to prove this by recalling that unlike the 'correct' manner of behaving, it growls when it is pleased and wags its tail when angry, though since Alice considers this to be purring and quite sane it can be seen as contradictory." It was Alice's own fault for being nothing but a petulant child, being ignorant to her studies and following that white rabbit wearing a waistcoat. "As it smiles like a cat should not it can be seen as rather unique and interesting, and Alice is curious of it. It also gives her helpful advice about how to meet everyone else, so it can be nice too." _Why _it smiled was another question entirely, one that Pride was quite sure would never be answered. Though Occeals was a district bridging the North and West areas of Amestris, maybe the breed of cats there _could _smile somehow? "But then it disappears without much warning so maybe it is quite rude in that respect as well."

"Hm, satisfactory. Let us continue reading." Pride returned to the correct page, and lazily followed the text, barely focusing, but catching enough to understand where the erratic plot was leading. He'd never had a tutor before, one that was just for him and no one else, the instructors at the Facility were spread thin over the six classes and cared as little for each of the candidates as much as Pride cared to separate them. They were cold but efficient, and the same could be said for his own tutor now, he supposed.

Miss Minerva Wespe was not a pleasant woman by any means, severe and icy like she had a general dislike for everything she set her beady, sharp spectacle covered eyes on. With her neat burgundy jackets and long skirts she tried to exude something of warmth to no avail. Maybe things might have been different had Wrath not chosen upon being stubborn and selecting his own human, with the younger Wespe daughter taken by Phillip perhaps Wrath would have caught sight of the older, plainer sister. Her skin was puckered and tight with age and her secret hate for having never married. To be working in such a place, with the Fuhrer and his wife and their adopted _child_, perhaps it was not the best she could have wanted to point out her own errors, but Pride knew her well enough to know that she would have never desired children. Given her hate for them it was a wonder she was a tutoress in the first place. At least she had patience for him though, but him being the very image of a well behaved and for the most part attentive child how could she not, especially given his status- the son of the Fuhrer paled to the unmarried sister of Phillip Armstrong's wife.

The quiet creak of the door caught Pride's attention enough for him to raise his head a fraction. Wrath's wife poked her head in, smiling as she saw him.

"Good afternoon, Selim. I brought you some lunch while you read. I just know Mrs. Wepse is teaching you well." She stepped in through the door holding a small tray carrying a small plate and a glass of water.

"It is Miss Wespe, Madam." His tutor seemed to have no problems with speaking up when she clearly wasn't talking to her, but it was a quieter, more restrained and less cold, which was a welcome change. Wrath's wife didn't notice the impudence, and nodded.

"Oh, _Miss_ Wepse of course. Sorry about that." She set the tray down on his desk, and Pride pulled the book open onto his lap to make room. Beside the glass of water were a sandwich and a small bunch of red grapes. Such care had gone into their placement and construction, with fluffed edges of lettuce and tiny circles of tomato poking out around the bread crust, no doubt there was a slice or three of ham embedded somewhere in there as well.

"Thank you, mother." He took an enthusiastic but still refined and proper bite of the sandwich, smiling wider as he chewed it happily. For her to think so much of him to go out of her way and make lunch for him when she could have ordered the cook to make it for him was peculiar, when he wasn't even her child.

She just fluffed up his hair and told him to have fun reading. Pride watched her leave curiously, still not understanding why she was the way she was. He still didn't see why Wrath valued her so much; she wasn't extraordinary in any way. Still, Wrath had spent almost thirty-five years married to her, so there must have been _something_.

Pride smirked at the devious thought that bubbled up in his mind. She had spent so much time fussing over him in the few months he'd been here that she didn't spend as much time with Wrath anymore. If Wrath valued her so much then he would surely miss her attention before very long. Pride remembered Wrath's disgusting and inconsiderate behaviour those months before, how he had just watched and not said anything at all. It was shameful. Wrath deserved to be punished, and what better way to do so than with friendly competition for his wife's affection?

0 * 0 * 0

**November 1st 1913**

Pride had to admit that his methods of stealing her attention away from Wrath had been numerous and less than satisfactory. While at home he could run away from his duties as Fuhrer and come to visit them for snippets at a time whenever he pleased. Pride needed something more extended, that prevented Wrath from seeing his beloved spouse for most of the day and for when he saw her again it would be with him by her side preventing her from going anywhere near him until he was sent to bed. He would be obedient and perfectly well behaved while Wrath would be his usual seething self and she would think less of him for being jealous of his adopted son. It was too perfect a plan that Pride was sure that only he (or Father should an unusual enough circumstance ever arise) was capable of concocting it.

The plan seemed to be working effortlessly, he had woken and dressed that morning and padded downstairs to find that Wrath had spent the night in his office because he was bogged down in his work. With no tutor to waste his time Pride had requested that they have an outing to buy toys and what not, pleading that it would help his room feel more like his own. Even now a small part of her remembered that he wasn't her child and that he could still be grieving over his parents, so she allowed it.

They walked along the path hand in hand, the weakening autumn sun throwing their shadows across the floor in stunted blobs. Wrath's wife had chosen that they walk so as to enjoy the nice weather, as well as the fact that the most high quality shops clustered around Central Headquarters anyway. Pride felt himself scowling as the sound of their united, even steps was constantly interrupted by the heavy footfalls of _those two_ trailing behind. Pride could understand the reasoning behind it, Wrath's wife was a very high profile woman, and she needed to be protected, namely by the two irritating body guards following them. Pride didn't care to distinguish them with names or differences in appearance, their identical black suits were all that matted for Pride to discern who they were. They were efficient to a fault in everything they did and Pride dreaded the time when Father would wish to see him as it would be almost impossible with those two roaming around. When he had started to sleep in his bed throughout the night and not return to his way of sleeping on the floor Wrath's wife would check on him, though now occasionally that duty was extended by one of them, who would noisily creak the door open wide three times every hour and more often than not wake him when they did. He had every right to dislike them; they hardly did anything beneficial to anyone. Still, they hardly made conversation and tried to keep themselves unnoticed, but that wretched sound of them hitting the pavement prevented him from forgetting about them entirely.

"Did you like your new short trousers, Selim?" She asked him as they wandered along to find a toy shop. It had been necessary to spend as much time as possible on their outing, and Pride had grown bored with his grey shorts. They were rather drab and clashed with the image of the child he was supposed to be. So, they had purchased some warm brown ones instead, sewn in braces included, unfortunately. Even in the facility he'd despised the things. He was happy to leave the grey ones for other occasions (and it was certainly not because his grey ones made it look like he was wearing his candidate uniform underneath his jacket, of course not, how absurd…). Perhaps the guards were actually useful for _something_- carrying the baggage of their gratuitous spending, the shorts, a couple more red ties and his many spare white shirts.

"I really like them; I can't wait to wear them tomorrow." She smiled at his enthusiastic grin.

"That's nice darling. So, where do you want to go now?" He paused for a moment to think, even though he already knew where he was going.

"Well, after we go to the toy shop can we go to the park? Oh, we might even see the Tiny Alchemist there, that would be amazing if we did!" In his own special childish way he had given this ridiculous nickname to that small human that Wrath had told him about a while ago. The idiotic teenager had most certainly performed human transmutation for an equally idiotic reason, and from that had seen the Truth. But the fact that he had done so was far more important than the reasons, and so he was of the utmost importance to Father as a confirmed Human sacrifice. He, along with Hohenheim and that Doctor Marcoh who had gone missing after the war in Ishval, would come to be especially useful to them on the Promised day. Wrath also had suspicions about the boy's armour clad younger brother, which would be even more helpful to Father's Plan. His admiration of the boy allowed Pride to keep tabs on them without being considered suspicious; it was all so convenient that way. "Edward is so cool, becoming a state alchemist so early; I can't wait 'til I'm old enough to learn alchemy, then maybe I can become one too!" The actual possibly of there being such serendipity of them encountering the brothers was slim to none. They seemed obsessed with travelling around the country whenever possible in their desperate search for something or other that was probably childish and trivial, and indeed Pride had no desire to meet the countryside-born alchemists. She just gave his hand a caring squeeze at his gushing, chuckling a little, and waited until he had calmed down before replying.

"If we have the time we can, Selim. We'll need to use the car though. The park is quite far from here and you might get tired walking all that way." Pride nodded. "Oh look Selim, there's the toy shop." Pride hurried along, and they pushed open the doors into the shop together.

Half an hour later the two of them stepped back out, and a few moments later Pride's two bodyguards followed, holding three more small paper bags by the handles along with their previous two. However much she had spoiled him with the dozens of trinkets and gifts (and the enthused shopkeeper had been all too happy to show off everything in the shop for him to entice him into buying even more) it wasn't enough, there was still too much time left to waste until Pride would be satisfied. He could hardly recall what they'd bought at all, a mix of clockwork animals and wooden people, and a model of a market place with tiny pieces of food in stalls. Part of him enjoyed getting doted upon in such a superficial way, as the son of the Fuhrer it was only right that he be a privileged child who wanted for nothing, who had only the best of education and sources of amusement. Thinking of another distraction he tugged at her sleeve.

"Hm, what's wrong?"

"I'm hungry. Please can we get something to eat?"

"Of course we can Selim. Would you like something in particular? I'm sure there are lots of shops near here." She glanced around, her gaze settling on the small lace canopy hanging over the shop entrance. "Oh there, a cake shop, how lovely. Would you like a slice of-?" He ran off without warning, dragging her along with him by the hand. This would be a suitable distraction for now, they could eat a slice of cake together and then go to the park, and even after that he could think of something else for them to do.

From afar there was some sound like a deep humming; he didn't turn his head towards to noise, ignoring it, far more focused on thinking up a later activity to do for their outing. Something jolted in his head suddenly, and burst into life with a pained shout.

_It's coming, Pride! Please listen! _

The voice from all those years ago, that had been obedient and silent for the past fifty years, that had grown faint and faded away after his dream in the tunnel with Sloth. Why had it decided to return now?

**What do you want?**

_Please please please stop, don't go. Don't do what I…I…_

Its usual terrified ripple ran up through up, and it looked like it was shivering. They both stepped out into the road together, his left hand still tight around hers, and she trailed the one step behind him. The humming sound got louder, but still he kept walking, not paying it attention, still too far away for him to fully notice.

_And louder and louder and_ louder_, Pride! _

The voice shrieked again. Pride didn't have the slightest idea what it was talking about, and they were almost across the street now and that was far more important.

_The metal horse, metal…horse-h-h-horse Pride. Don't. Don't. Please._

A much louder noise bleared through the air, and Pride turned his head, curiously. Oh, it was a car, a car coming this way, and at towards _him. _Pride froze in place, suddenly afraid and alone and his feet wouldn't move an inch no matter how much his mind and the voice screeched in unison.

_Move Pride, move! Don't be so stupid or scared! You aren't ignorant like I was! Why won't you-!_

"Selim watch out! There's a-!" What could he do, he wouldn't bleed or get injured in anyway, everything would be ruined and they'd all _know_. Could he burst the tires with his shadows without anyone noticing? But wouldn't be necessary if he could just _move. _Why was he being so pathetic and weak?! He couldn't feel the warmth of her hand around his anymore, he really was alone now.

Something barreled into him, not the car, but something else. Through his sight above whatever the thing was wrapped tight around him he saw the car swerve and smash itself into a lamppost. Pride realised the thing was Wrath's wife, and she was _crying_.

"I was so worried, Selim. Selim…thank goodness you're alright…thank goodness…" She sobbed into his shoulder, squeezing him like she never wanted to let go again. She…she'd protected him from the car? Why would she do something like that, when she could have been killed herself? Humans were selfish creatures, only interested in themselves and their own needs and wants. But what had she to gain from almost killing herself to shield him? Did she care _that_ much?

The voice softened, sighing.

_She truly does love you, Pride. You should be happy that she cared so much that she would risk her life to protect you._

Content, it faded away into silence once again. Pride didn't understand, it made no sense, humans weren't supposed to be like this, all he had ever known and come to trust made no sense when it came to her and what she'd done. She held him there for what seemed like forever, and Pride did nothing to prevent her, laying his head on her shoulder, staring out but not seeing, confused and bewildered beyond what he could comprehend. For her to have such an endless, boundless love for him… It this what it was like, to have a mother?

"I'm fine, Mother. I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" The outing could be cut short, neither of them were in a fit state to continue.

0 * 0 * 0

**November 19th 1913**

"Height- forty four inches tall, same as always. Weight…I suppose I'll be required to lie for that one again. How is forty six pounds? That would be a healthy weight for a boy your age." Pride didn't give him the pleasure of replying, giving a half nod as he stepped away from the scales and trudged his way towards the table. Outside the barely changing height and weight everything else could remain the same. The eye and hearing test and the check for scoliosis didn't need to be done, that would only waste the _precious _hour they had to spend together. He wished it to be over already.

The Doctor watched him, just out the corner of his eye as he scribbled nonsense over his examination report. From the brief glances it was nothing but an unintelligible, barely legible scrawl of repetitiveness, like always.

"Have you settled in yet? At the facility it took you over nine months until you had adapted to living there. I remember it well, near to the time you _ate_ Number 22, you suddenly stopped failing in your studies. I wonder how that could be; did you absorb some of 22's knowledge? With a _container _as peculiar and unusual as yours I am sure it is capable of so many hundreds of other things I am not yet aware of." His constant smile quivered in the corner, like he was upset with him over something, but even so he scratched at his clipboard with his pen like there was nothing wrong at all. "You always were unwilling to share anything with me, even though your Father trusts me completely." The Doctor poked and prodded, never willing to let him forget that and how much of value he was to Father even now, to point out that there was _nothing_ he could do without it reaching Father no matter what. "It's a shame really; science could develop greatly from studying your container, or those delightful _shadows _of yours. But you care little for such human matters, don't you?" All the required examinations completed as far as anyone would know the Doctor passed the clipboard to him, and Pride gripped the very edge with the tip of his fingers and daintily pulled it away from him. But even then the warmth and the damp of the Doctor's fingers were still tangible through the board, but he suppressed the desperate urge to cringe and shiver and throw the wretched thing as far away as possible. But he couldn't.

"I believe everything is plausible for the most part. Your pretence as Selim Bradley shows you to be a bright, healthy, but by no means extraordinary nine year old. Rather stunted in height with appropriate weight for such, but that can be explained away rather simply. Males tend to mature later than females, so it will be assumed that you will grow much taller at a later stage, and by that time the Promised Day would have already passed. It is nothing you should worry about." Pride scanned over the results to be sure, and everything seemed to be in order, information about him scattered about over the page in the required boxes, and the jumbled spray of ink blots at the bottom that Pride assumed was supposed to the Doctor's fake signature. He couldn't make anything through the mess out anyway.

"Why would you doubt that I would be anything other than perfect in my act with Wrath?" Pride spoke it quietly but with no rise or fall in his voice, calm and even and emotionless as it should be. He couldn't show anything else, anything else would only make things worse. The Doctor had completed his examination now and only ten minutes had passed, there was still too much time left until he was free to leave, far too much…

"I did not doubt you for a moment. I have seen for myself how effortlessly you can form your façade against humans. Jacket off." It began with every bit of abruptness as always. Every part of him screaming not to react he still froze in place, teeth clenching with inward disgust. "Of course, cracks do form in that façade sometimes, accidents happen…Word echoed down from the third laboratory that you were almost struck by a car." The Doctor knew he would be stubborn, and dragged him to the table's edge by his ankle. It wasn't like it used to be, the Doctor's vice like grip weaker than he remembered, hand discolored and speckled with liver spots, but still strong enough to pull along his container without him feigning its weight. "I wouldn't have thought someone such as yourself would have been so irresponsible." The Doctor almost loosed a quiet chuckle at the shame of it, while he pushed the first pale blue button of his blazer out, dragging it out. "You're being awfully quiet, do you not like living with Number 12 and his human?" Pride didn't answer, staring out the corner of his eye, turning away as the Doctor unbuttoned the others, merely pulling his arms of the sleeves when he tugged at them and hugging them to his waist.

"It is what Father has asked of me." There was nothing else that needed to be said on the matter. He had no opinion on his stay with Wrath's wife; he had no need to think anything of it except that it was Father's will, even after what she had done for him back in September. It…it didn't mean anything, no matter how peculiar. The Doctor threw his blazer over the table's edge, where it slipped and no doubt fell into a horrible blue heap on the floor. Neither paid it any notice, Pride already anticipating the worst, trying to force his mind to cloud with distractions, with whatever senseless thing to make him forget where he was and why he was here at all. The two sharp jerks as the Doctor tore his shoes from him brought him back before he could even force a daydream. The socks came with them, and the deathly November cold ensnared him even in the basement.

"I see. Well, I'm sure you will be content in spending the rest of your time with them. Two years, is it? You only spent a scant eighteen months within the facility. It doesn't feel like it was fifty years ago, does it?" It had felt like fifty years just being here. He shouldn't think about that, shouldn't think lest he remember the isolation, the pain and the endless memories that might have been his or Number 22's or Number 105's but he never could tell and they all washed together into a filthy, stagnant puddle regardless. But how could he, with the Doctor already at his knees and pulling curiously at the edge of his shorts. Something like shame burned inside him, but it twisted and solidified into the tiniest indignation.

"Brown short-trousers instead…are you trying to subvert who you once were by changing your attire marginally?" The scoff he needed to force out died before it could even form. How absurd it was, that wasn't the reason, he wasn't as weak and pathetic as that to be affected by such a trivial thing as his clothing, no matter how much he looked like he did back then without his blazer to hide it…

The slight indignation grew, and set alight into the most venomous of loathing, the loathing that had formed in that single moment all those years before. It pushed at the edge of his mind, to no longer be the meek, pitiful thing he was when he was required to repent. Father had forgiven him so why should he still accept _this_. Pride forced himself to ignore it.

"Grey is… too cold a colour to wear for such a cheerful child as I am pretending to be. I shall only be wearing them for more… f-formal occasions." He _wasn't_ faltering. It wasn't threatening to burst and lead to him doing something far from sensible.

"You do not consider this a formal occasion? How interesting, Three-six-" and it burst.

"I hate you, you know that, right?" Pride turned to face him, staring with his wide, pure and innocent eyes of his act, whilst the deep fire of his loathing raged and flared behind them, threatening to emerge with every second. "And if you know that then you know who I am. Oh, but you called me three-sixteen, but three-sixteen has no shadows or eyes or teeth for you to study, so why would you…?" The feigned attempts of being nice died mid sentence and he couldn't stand the thought of pretending to be so a moment longer. But still he forced the shadows in his throat to remain tight around his vocal cords. The Doctor didn't deserve to hear his true voice. "My name is _Pride, _you insolent, vile, detestable waste of human flesh. I am not one of your bygone candidates for you to continue to debase. My role there ended over fifty years ago, as will yours on the Promised day and when that day comes I _will_ dispose of you. You have no place being…you don't _deserve _to become part of Father!" The last of his outburst echoed in the cramped room, and Pride caught his breath, still glaring, the fire still burning even now and painfully evident in his constant glare replacing his usual icy indifference. Pride let out a sigh, but still set his head back, savouring his personal victory. There, now the Doctor would know his place and this ridiculous farce could end without incident. Father would not mind that he had done such a thing; he was no longer repenting so-

"Oh, I would _anticipate_ it should I know that it would be _you_ doing the honours, _Pride_." The Doctor was leaning right in front of him, roughly cupping his cheeks and he far too close too close _too close_! "I have always longed to see those ever so fascinating _shadows_ of yours, if this is to be the only way then so be it." The utter delight oozed from the Doctor's voice like he was pleased that Pride had promised to kill him, as if his hate validated his worthless little life somehow. Pride only shivered and squirmed at the sound of it until he understood, and bile bubbled in this throat.

This was _exactly _what he'd wanted; he'd been pushing him, to force him to snap just to hear his screeching true voice and his shadows that would gladly rip him to bits given half the chance if he wasn't important to Father. And that was what he _wanted_. Pride crumbled, his personal victory rebounding into the complete opposite. Some part of him still bleated feebly, to defy him even now, to prove that he was wrong.

_No you wouldn't Iwillmakeyousufferdon'tyoudaresayyou'llenjoyitIwilltearyouapart…_

But that would only encourage him, and for once Pride caved, and relented, slouching in defeat. Ever so pleased with himself the Doctor inched closer with his constant gold cubed grin, sitting behind him on the table.

"I look forward to it, Pride." He may have misinterpreted the Doctor but that didn't mean he still could not hate with every fibre of his being. As he did, as he always would. For now though, there was nothing he could do but bide his time.

Breath on his ear. _Only two more, and then it would be over._

Hand in his shirt. Everything _would be over soon enough._

He accepted it. _Like there was anything else he could do. _Pride was silent.

The Doctor slid his braces down.

0 * 0 * 0

As much as he had stopped mourning and become little more than an ordinary child, that wasn't to say it was unusual for him to be allowed his privacy. She seemed to understand that sometimes he would like some solitude in his own room and not constantly clung to her side. A boy his age needed some independence. At times like this he appreciated that more than anything, curled up on the floor, halfheartedly doing something that could be considered playing quietly should someone disturb him.

She spoiled him, his large toy chest that could double as a stool stuffed to bursting with all sorts of things: clockwork carts with donkeys attached, a large toy car with working wheels, a soft stuffed rabbit with a blue waistcoat from that children's book, a wide array of wooden, exquisitely and delicately painted animals. It was probably ungrateful of him, that he had chosen to gush about those Elric brothers who could only be drawn, favouring a pencil and paper instead of the expensive toys that any other child would have done anything to possess even one of. Not tonight though, tonight he would sit on his stomach and hug the little brown rabbit under his arm, create a path with his wooden blocks to watch the clockwork birds hop around with tiny mechanical jerks. Their intermittent whirrs and hums were almost soothing when all five of them did so together, and as he watched them he pushed the car lazily along with his spare hand.

It was far too early to go to bed, and it wasn't worth the effort to pretend he was ill to do so. With a sigh Pride pushed at the edge of his shirt beneath him, tucking its loose edge back in, while no one would notice it wasn't worth the risk, he didn't need her worrying about something else because of him behaving oddly. He was not so sloppy. Growing bored with pretending to play Pride pushed himself to his feet, leaving the rabbit doll in his place and wandering over to his window. The soft, pale light of the full moon washed over him in its slow ivory waves. It was only just beginning to rise over the wall; the sun had only just begun to set when he had been ushered away to the basement for his examination. He stared up at it wistfully; it had always had a way of calming him, even when he was young however many centuries ago, when there were no facilities or acting or examinations, just Father and doing anything he could to make him happy. It might have been the same now but it was all so…complicated. However inappropriate and immature he appreciated the simplicity for once of just gazing up at the moon with a smile, it wasn't much of anything, but it was better than nothing. Anything would be better than leaving him with nothing else to think about but the-

"What are you doing?" Pride winced and spun around. It took him far too long to realise who it was, but when he his arms that had folded themselves tight across his chest slackened, and he nodded towards him.

"Oh…hello." He wasn't sure which name he wanted to use, and settled for neither.

"How was the examination?" Like Wrath cared, like he could even understand anymore.

"**It went as well as expected, Wrath. I left the results in the dining room on my way back up." **Wrath nodded, and he looked at the scattered toys at the foot of the bed.

"Playing by yourself, Selim?" He usually hardly tried at attempting to act, but it seemed that he was actually making an effort this time, how odd.

"**There is nothing unusual with a child wishing to play in their room. Most high class children have their own nursery and have a nanny to look after them instead of their parents, if anything it is you who are being unusual by visiting me at all and taking such an interest in me."** He was doing nothing wrong by wanting to be alone for a while, and surely Wrath could understand that and stop trying to irk him.

"Not all children have Lenore as a mother, who cares about you, and will worry about you if you go skulking off until bedtime every time you have your examination. She may get suspicious." Pride scoffed at the idea. Like he would allow such a thing, or would be caught doing anything to warrant such suspicion to arise at all. Something shifted ever so slightly in Wrath's posture, his moustache twitching, curling down at the very edges, but whatever it was eluded him and he tried not to think anything of it. "Come to the tearoom, Pride. There's no point in you wallowing down here. You'll feel better there, and she'd be happy to make you anything you'd like if you get hungry before bed. She truly does love you, and you like to pretend that you can't see it, that it doesn't exist at all." As much as Pride knew that he had already grown bored with wasting time, it would have been far too shameful to agree with Wrath, to even admit that he was sulking, when he wasn't sulking at all. Wrath just didn't understand. He'd never understand again. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction of agreeing to-

"Ok, Wrath." The words slipped out without him realizing, maybe he had meant to but had been too caught up in denying to notice. Yet, as the words faded into the air the tense, slightly heated atmosphere melted away into calm, and Wrath smiled at him, not smug, not revelling in forcing him to give in, only…almost happy. Wrath didn't say anything, and left the door open for him as he felt the room silently. Pride followed him curiously out the into the corridor, not sure how to react to what Wrath was doing, or even trying to do by forcing him to spend time with them in the tea room. But there was nothing better he could do so he'd might as well. Any other time he would have not gone along with Wrath's senseless suggestions, of course he wouldn't.

Once he'd climbed the stairs and made his way along to the tea room Wrath was nowhere to be seen, having not waited for him to catch up. Pride waited beside the door frame, scrutinising every part of his attire to make sure it was perfect, that nothing was even the tiniest bit out of place lest she grow suspicious of him. He fixed his collar and retied his tie, pushing the crease at the top out just like she did, brushing lightly through his unruly stuck up fringe to make sure it looked presentable, pulling his socks up so they were aligned and parallel in height. How could he have ever allowed himself to get into such a state? Satisfied with his adjustments Pride nervously poked his head in through the gap in the door Wrath had left for him.

Wrath's wife turned her head towards him at the loud _creak_ from the door opening further as he leant against it, half surprised as she saw him, had Wrath not told her to expect him? Her expression softened immediately into a smile.

"Hello Selim, I wondered where you'd gotten to, but your father said that you were upstairs playing so I didn't want to disturb you. How was your examination, you know how I worry about those things."

"The doctor says I'm fine, Mother." Even saying the word burned, but it was necessary, he had stopped mourning and her taking the place of the one he had lost was required, so he could ignore the word and all it stood for. "The report is in the dining room, do you want me to bring it for you?" Pride started to inch his way back out, remembering how the boredom and solitude of his room might have not been so bad after all. She waved the idea away in an instant.

"Oh no, it's fine, Selim. Thank you anyway, such a helpful boy you are." She ushered him closer, already pouring him some tea in a spare cup, dropping two sugar cubes and a large splash of milk into it just the way he liked. Pushing his reluctance aside he stepped cautiously down the two or three steps and over to the couch "Thank goodness everything came back ok, I don't know what I'd do if I found out there was something the matter. I never had to go through any because I never went to school, but I'm sure it must be strange, all of the students queuing up to see a doctor like livestock. I'm happy we have a family doctor for you so you don't have to leave home just for something like that." At the facility there had been no need for medical check ups, any issues were weeded out and either remedied or eliminated as soon as they were discovered. He hadn't thought much about actual examinations. They were probably brief, simple, meaningless affairs every year or so during the lower class's time at school, though with his tutor he knew that he would never have to attend such a place so the lack of consideration was warranted, and he thought nothing more about it. "I will have to meet him someday and thank him for being so punctual and helpful." Pride almost chocked on his tea at the suggestion, she couldn't, she _couldn't. _She might have been easily fooled by the both of them but she was not blind to the obvious. He resisted shaking his head, glancing at Wrath to do something, anything; surely here he could understand that he could do nothing here without her figuring out what was wrong. Thankfully Wrath managed to quash his no doubt identical reaction, and looked over to her with a serious yet still somehow…_caring_ expression. He couldn't understand, _why _did Wrath care for so her much? He wasn't supposed to be able to even feel such ridiculous things.

"He's a very busy man, dear. He only barely managed to get to see Selim today; I don't think we should keep him from his work with such pleasantries. I'm sure he knows how much we…value him." She mulled it over, perhaps thinking of a retort, but she nodded in the end.

"That's true, Dear. You're right. Well, it's nice to see you here again, Selim. I'll tuck you in like always in about an hour." Wrath's wife stood up, and wandered over with her still warm smile, coming to sit beside him on the couch. "You're so considerate of your parents, Selim, wanting to spend time with us when you could be by yourself playing. We must seem boring to you but we still love you very much." She pulled him close to her, wrapping her arms around him.

"No, I…I like being with you, you aren't boring at all, Mother." Gazing up at her he smiled and pushed himself closer, affectionately inclining his head under hers. So close to her he could feel the fluffy cotton of her shawl, and beneath it and her chest the weak little rhythmic patter of her ever so human heart, while under his own was cold and silent and empty save for the darkness. He leant his ear to it, listening as his eyes slid shut, his arms coming to wrap around her too.

'_It's warm.' '_The thought drifted through his mind like one of those dandelion clocks in spring, bobbing gracefully about in a calm breeze. Something fluttered contently inside him, and he felt himself relax and he sighed. There was no pretence with her, she had even risked her life to protect him, when he wasn't even hers and never would be… she loved him that much…At the same time it felt completely and utterly _wrong_. He shouldn't be feeling this…whatever it was.

A deep blush rose up in his cheeks, he wasn't sure if it was in embarrassment at her fussing over him or shame of blushing at all and this foreign feeling of what he couldn't understand. He caught Wrath looking at the small fracture in his act, the quirk in his moustache where he was smirking. And how dare he, how dare he know about this dreadfully human emotion and then smirking at how flustered he was becoming. No, no, he couldn't let Wrath see him falter like this…this wasn't affecting him at all…it wasn't…

But he couldn't bring himself to deny that it wasn't pleasant, that he didn't yearn for her warmth and love and attention more than anything else at that moment. He didn't even care if Wrath was mocking him if it meant that he could stay here, like this.

After _that_, this was completely the opposite, this was kind and gentle and sincere and he hated the fact that he relished in it so much. It wasn't right, it wasn't, it wasn't….but…why should he have to endure that without anything to balance it out? After that, he _needed_ something like this, whatever it was.

Accepting his shameful affinity for her peculiar human type of love just this once, Pride fell asleep in Mother's arms.

0 * 0* 0 * 0 * 0

Wheee~ nice fluffy ending for you alllll~

Poor Pride, Wrath was too brain broke to help him, and couldn't see that Wrath was sympathizing with him without being too expressive : (

Now, I had to rename the Cheshire cat obviously because we're in Amestris. So, as Cheshire is a county in the Northwest of England, I chose a name that combined the latin word for North 'borealis' and West 'Occidens', so that could be an area of Amestris that covered the north and west too ^^

I so wanted Pride's tutor and Mrs. Armstrong to be related, they look so similar except Pride's tutor looks a little older and doesn't have the Armstrong curl. Just check out chapter 45 if you don't believe me. Also I do just love tying things together ^^

Oh yeah, I know that Pride was lying when he said that when he was almost run over he could 'have moved at any time', since if he could there was no way he wouldn't have, the speed limit in 1910 was 10-15mph and the max cars could go was 20-30, so he must have froze like a deer in headlights for him to have _not _managed to move out of the way ^^

Phew, next chapters will be a little shorter and not as cramped, so I'll definitely be on time again ^_^


	56. Family Relations

Was cutting this one close again ^^; at least I'm off school in a few days so I'll have more time to write. Also, when I was writing this yesterday one of my hamsters died, so I wasn't feeling up to anything, so I'm sorry if the quality dips anywhere, when I'm feeling a little better I'll be sure to fix this chapter up where required ;_;

0 * 0* 0 * 0 * 0

**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Fifty-Six: Family Relations **

**December 7****th**** 1913**

In the usual peaceful solitude that came with the times that he decided to spend time in his room after breakfast Pride came to the decision that this particular one was _too_ peaceful to be normal. Though it was certainly appropriate in regular high class households for children to be seen and not heard and to have very little interaction with their parents Pride had come to realise that the opposite was true living here, and strangely he had began to shamefully enjoy Wrath's wife's company from time to time. The question now was why she hadn't checked on him at all since he had been excused from breakfast.

He liked to think the gnawing wonder of why she had yet to check her tabs on him was not something he cared that much about, he was merely confused about why her usual routine of occasionally peeking in through the door when he was not being tutored had been disrupted. It was not important enough for him to think too long about however, and he returned to reading his book about the unbelievably optimistic female child with two names for a first name as she continued spreading her naïve sentiments everywhere.

Everything above him was still and silent as he scanned over the page without absorbing the words, not even the patter of the housemaid or his bodyguards doing whatever they'd been instructed, pouring tea in the tearoom and whatnot permeated down the floorboards to him. How strange, that she was not in the tearoom waiting patiently for the inevitable time he would slip in and be content in her company. Had Pride not known better or if he had any real interest in the occurrence he would have been marginally tempted to send a thin shadow skittering along the wall and upstairs to inspect what had stolen their attention away and exactly why Wrath's wife wasn't there. But he _did_ know better, so he most definitely wasn't tempted and so he didn't. The thought barely crossed his mind at all.

A pleasant hum drifted up to him instead, echoing its way along corridors and up through floorboards until it was barely a sound at all that to any human would have been impossible to hear let alone understand. Still he listened intently, and caught every syllable. Her voice rang with reverberating delight at whatever she was engrossed in downstairs, whatever had managed to tear her from routine and her expected place in the tearoom.

"Oh, you can put it down here I'm sure it will look lovely if we take it from there. This is so exciting, I hope Selim likes it." Something only creaked in response, and thumped softly.

"I am certain Selim will enjoy it. Do you want me to fetch him?" Wrath's gruff, coarser voice travelled much more fluidly, it would have been audible without him specifically listening for it. Why wasn't he at Headquarters? It was far too early for him to have grown bored with his duties already.

"It's fine, Dear. I want it to be like a real surprise, where he just comes down by himself and then he can see it." Hm, they had a surprise for him? He'd never had a surprise before, then again if he knew about the surprise from eavesdropping then was it a surprise anymore? Well, either way he would pretend to be surprised. "You don't mind that, do you?" The minute change in her enunciation and tone made it clear she was talking to someone else, the gentle touches still there but underlined with a firmer sense of authority. Pride didn't know when he had become so adept at interpreting her speech and every aspect of her voice, and he wasn't sure if he really wanted to find out.

While it probably would have been more sensible for him to remain in his room for an ample amount of time before going downstairs of his own accord to receive the surprise to make it seem more plausible, anything that was preventing Wrath from working efficiently as Fuhrer needed to be remedied immediately. And so Pride set his book down on the bed and made the innocent and merely curious walk downstairs.

"You weren't in the tearoom," he called as he stepped through the door, so childishly sure of where she was but needing to explain himself. "so I came looking and I heard you…" This was it, whatever the surprise was he needed to look completely shocked enough that he would trail off, and then it could be over and Wrath could leave and get back to work. Who knew what kind of imperative information could be coming to light while he was busy indulging his wife and her want for preparing something special for him. Pride forced down that unusual flutter and spark of happiness inside him as he considered how much she must have loved him to prepare such a thing for no special occasion, just because she could and nothing more than that. No, there was no need for that now; he did not require such human affection. The feeling died away.

The first thing he saw was the perfect, quaint curve easing her lips into a smile, which it _shouldn't _have been, he should have been focusing on the surprise, and he shot his gaze across to the tall three legged contraption on the other side of the room. Its lens glinted under the ceiling light, and the hired photographer continued to check over it without really noticing him at all. He turned back to her, wide eyed and confused but at the same time captivated by the suddenness and the awe of it all, that this rather mundane day had so quickly been altered into the complete opposite.

"What is the camera for, Mother?"

"Well, Selim, you have been living with us now for nine months, and your father and I thought we should celebrate sooner rather than later. So I decided that we should have a family portrait taken with us all together. We don't have many photographs around the house, and I want at least one of us as a family. Is that ok, Selim?"

"Of course, Mother." The photographer asked for one of just her and Wrath first, and so Pride sat himself on the couch and waited. He had to admit, even though Wrath didn't smile, only looking blank and emotionless or best case scenario irritated as he usually was, it seemed rather nice. Mother stood next to him and formed her most immaculate smile, that one that she always used for him but never became trite or repetitive. Always perfect. Once it was complete Pride pushed himself up and came to stand in front of them, forcing himself a tad backwards, pushing them apart slightly. Mother looked the two of them over to make sure the photograph would still be as she wanted.

"Please smile, Dear, I want us to have at least one nice photo of us all together." Through all the times he'd had his photograph taken before, stumbling by accident into them or attending events to investigate, pretending to be related to some fabricated general that no one knew but somehow respected because of the rank alone.

"Look, Father, I'm smiling." It had never been real then, always a put on smile and pose and everything else that came with it. But this was different, he wasn't even sure how but something made this one matter so much more than all the rest put together.

"Remember to look at the camera, Selim." This time he would actually try, he actually wanted it to turn out a perfect as Mother's was.

"I will, Mother." With his pure and most genuine smile Pride stood up straight, content in his first real photograph that was for its true purpose rather than any of his obligations. The camera flashed, and so came to be their first family portrait.

0 * 0 * 0

**January 24th 1914**

Though he was well aware of what the occasion was, he didn't feel any special need to do anything out of the ordinary until he was forced. They may have mentioned it increasingly over the past few weeks and once at breakfast that morning but he was naught but a child, he couldn't be expected to remember such things when there were so many other interesting things he could be occupying his time with. Pride was currently doing just that, his new enough bodyguards having only checked on him for the dozenth time since lunch when he had decided to play in his room a few minutes before he was certain he would remain undisturbed for the time being, which was for the best.

It was only in that certainly that he even dared to let his thin line of shadow pull his toy train along in lazy circles over the plush carpet and between his little towers made of wooden blocks with such precision that there was no possibility of them being knocked over. It may have not been the most productive of uses for them, but he hardly ever got to use them at all these days besides occasionally allowing them to splay themselves across his bedroom walls disguised as nothing more than the true shadows of his lamplight, letting their slow rippling lull him to sleep. He vaguely enjoyed the indulgence of it, partly because he could, partly because he hated keep them trapped inside his container for too long, all that ever did was make him restless. Even then that was a pale excuse of what true purpose they should have served, what they would have served had Father not ordered him to stay with Wrath and Mother- _Mother,_ he actually…called her that in his head now? How strange…

Content in allowing them to continue rippling and twisting about in their simple play Pride threw himself backwards again into his pillow, stretching his legs out. It was better that he practice multitasking, though it had no current use to him he lived in anticipation of the time it would become useful once more, so felt that occupying his container and mind with one thing while forcing his shadows to do another was a suitable use of his time. He flicked over the page of his book, not a book he was required to read by his tutor, and not one he had selected for himself during one of his outings with Mother, merely one she had purchased for him without warning and slipped into his toy chest, remaining there until he had stumbled upon it that morning, and the bright vermillion and daffodil yellow catching his eye he'd pursued the tiniest pique of interest and had been reading it ever since.

From what he gathered it was part of a series of other books that he had scarcely heard of and had never read before. It seemed to be about a far off, fantastical land of magic and similar things (Pride seemed to be discovering a trite, repetitive theme with childrens' literature and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not), smaller humans, fairies, bread that _grew on trees,_ and in this particular one a vivid, cobbled together girl made of cloth who was too smart for her relatively menial purpose as a servant. A servant was all she should have ever hoped to be, they'd deliberately made her out of clashing and gaudy colours that would prove her to be unpopular, to prevent her from considering herself as an equal to her creators and being impudent in any way. There was nothing wrong with that, if she was created to be a servant then that was her purpose and her having any desire to be anything other than such was so vile a defiance that it didn't bear thinking about. Even so Pride couldn't say that he wasn't interested in the awful situation she had wound up in due to her stupidity of petrifying her creators, and the quest she had set herself on, traveling so far and seeing so much of the world that she would have otherwise been ignorant to. But of course human children would only see the whimsical nature of the tale itself and nothing beyond that, and seriously doubting that the human who had wrote the book intended such a thing he decided to think nothing more about it. This was only his attempt at wasting time until the inevitable came so there was no sense in over-thinking its intentions.

Fifteen minutes later and only halfway through the surprisingly lengthy book Pride let it rest open against him, and he settled for watching the door. It wouldn't be long now, he just knew it. Any moment now either Wrath or Mother would come knocking and the chaos would begin. It was a wonder they hadn't disturbed him sooner, were they so confident that they could get everything ready so quickly that they would only start to prepare a scant two hours before the event started? He hadn't expected them to be so lax about it, given that Wrath was the Fuhrer this should have been one of the most important events of the New Year, so why wasn't he taking it as seriously as he was supposed to? Was this the issue he was supposed to be looking for, was Wrath deliberately trying to sabotage his appearance in the eyes of others to hinder their plans? But that made no sense, Pride had been here for almost a year, what would be the point in waiting so long, Wrath wasn't gullible enough to believe that he would have stopped observing him, if he had even figured out his purpose living with them at all.

Pride pushed the thought from his mind; Wrath wouldn't do something as mundane as that if his pesky remnants of his human side were affecting him. They were just _so efficient _that they needn't prepare for the event so much in advance, that was all.

Deciding that he would simply see what they were up to rather than waiting for them to come to him Pride scooped up his book and pushed himself along his covers towards his toy chest. As he slid off and crouched down to open it the pristine hinge seemed to squeak, more of a creak actually…

Confused he shook the lid, but it remained silent, its movement fluid and perfect. Then…

The creak sounded again, a quiet tapping accompanying it. He turned his head to where the noise was probably coming from, since it definitely wasn't his toy box. Mother was here, leaning against the door as her final knock against it ended when she knew she'd caught his attention.

"Hello darling, it's time for you to get ready for the ball. This will be your first one, isn't that exciting?" Her formal, pale blue earrings were simple and refined shimmered a tad in the light, contrasting pleasantly with her deep burgundy dress and matching shawl. So similar to her usual attire and yet not, different enough for it to be considered appropriate for the occasion. "Your father is almost ready now so I thought I'd help you while I wait. He's terrible at timekeeping so I know he'd have had no time to help you like he said he would." Pride severely doubted that Wrath could still be wasting time getting ready if she was already done; it wasn't like Wrath would actually bother to make an effort in selecting his clothes. Knowing him he would just wear his regular clothes as Fuhrer, which might have been best- they couldn't afford to have that image slipping for even a second. Pride might have been able to see Wrath when his guard was at least marginally down enough to wear something more casual like a waistcoat, but it might have not been appropriate for such a military focused event. Leaving the door open she walked over to his wardrobe, flicking through his somewhat limited and repetitive stream of clothes while she pondered.

"Is there anything in particular you'd like to wear, Selim?" She probably knew that he was at a supposed age where he was sensible enough to have an idea of what he liked to wear, but even then it was only a question on his opinion. The Ball was much too important for her to put all of her faith in the tastes of a child, and even though Pride knew she was only humouring him, the fact that she had asked him was something he appreciated. For a moment he almost considered voicing what he thought was best, that him being naught but a child who might not have understood the gravity of the occasion having never experienced it before would simply choose his regular clothes that he wore even now. But it wasn't what was expected, she knew better, so in turn Pride would humour her.

"Um…not really, I don't know what I should wear. Can you help me pick, Mother?" It was the only thing suitable, for what use was a Mother than to be depended upon, it could be her job to decide what was appropriate for him to wear.

"Oh, of course I can, Selim. There's no need to feel embarrassed about something like that." With her ever so quaint human sort of smile she waved him closer, returning to looking over each article of clothing in his wardrobe as he padded forward. "Hm, we bought you all those red ties a few months ago, how about one of the darker ones?" From the small set of drawers beside the wardrobe she plucked one of the dark red (in comparison to his usual pale red) ties, handing it to him. He watched as she returned to leafing through his identical jackets, until she settled on an out of place black suit jacket with small pointed coattails. She pulled it out with a quirk fracturing her smile.

"I don't remember buying this for you. Where do you think it came from?" As she held it out for him he could see it now, how similar it was to his previous jacket that he wore before this game of house was even an idea. Whether Wrath had taken it from downstairs or had intentionally purchased a similar one he couldn't be sure, but rather enjoyed the idea of changing clothes for the occasion either way.

"Maybe father bought it for me, as a surprise!" It was a childish enough belief that might have had a speck of truth at the centre, she knew no better on the matter anyway.

"Oh, that might be it. How thoughtful of him. If he wants to keep it a surprise then pretend that you don't know it was him, ok?"

"I will, Mother. I won't mention it at all." Similarly styled black trousers followed the jacket soon after, and she seemed pleased with her choice.

"Now, you get dressed while I check on him, Selim." And without another word she left, gently shutting the door behind her. How peculiar, that Wrath had been planning ahead enough to purchase him suitable formal attire for the Ball, but why he had hidden it in his wardrobe was another question, but one Pride didn't feel any need to ask him about. Wrath's guise was one of a firm, sensible Fuhrer with the slightest affinity for certain eccentricities; this was just another one of them. By the time Pride had dressed into the suit, though still leaving the tie undone (that was something she could do) she knocked politely on his door again, asked if he was dressed and stepped in. Wrath followed close behind her, and like Pride had presumed he was wearing his usual uniform.

"We're almost all ready now. I only need to comb your hair and then we can go, isn't that exciting?" He kept himself still and patient as she fixed his tie, and then as she ran the comb through his hair. It snagged a few times where he'd lay down earlier, his fringe still stuck up at the front and off to the right side, but he knew it was something that no comb could fix. When it ran through without any resistance something changed, and ever so gradually she pushed more of his hair off to one side, but he didn't protest at all, too surprised at her impulsive decision to have any opinion on it. Eventually she realised what she was doing. "Oh, look at me trying to change your hair for something like this. I think it looks nice just this once, but I can change it back if you want. Do you like it, Selim? Or not?" Mother let him wander off towards his mirror. It certainly was different, parted at the side, the heaviness of the extra hair tamed his disobedient fringe, and it fell neatly off sideways without any of it falling into his face.

"It's fine, Mother. I like it this way." He chirped, as if it had finally become apparent where he was going and his completed outfit was proof of that, and he let a tiny bounce seep into posture as he grinned. She laughed warmly along with his enthusiasm, giving his head a soft touch and nothing more than that to avoid messing his hair up, but even so the affection was pure and palpable and despite himself he nudged a fraction higher into it. Wrath stepped into the corridor, glancing at them both and cleared his throat.

"We should be going now." Though Pride's attempts to steal Mother away from Wrath had long since ceased their success had continued on and if nothing else had increased as he reluctantly warmed to her. So what reason did Wrath have to disapprove, to be jealous in any way? He was not doing this out of spite, if his acting was too perfect and convincing an act that Mother had desired to spend time with him rather than Wrath then that was not something that Wrath had any right to admonish. If anything it was his own fault.

"Alright Dear, we wouldn't want to be late." His hand slipped around hers effortlessly as they followed Wrath out along the hall. "I'm sure the car has been waiting for us." He didn't mind requiring the chauffer to take them somewhere, so long as it meant that he could stay at mother's side for a while longer…_Mother_…he kept calling her that…but why? That might have been the correct term of address in the situation but that did _not _mean that it should have spread to his thoughts, when it wasn't the truth and never would be. Why was he…?

Pride only pushed the thought aside for now; there were much more important things to attend to tonight than something so trivial.

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It seemed Wrath's concept of late was actually fifteen minutes early, as they stepped into completely empty room while everything was still being set up. Pride had to admit he was rather curious of the place, the Armstrong estate, for all its ostentatious gloss and modern prestige that feigned the existence of something more ancient, still managed to retain a hint of something genuine and for once the illustrious trappings of the past felt almost real. Wrath and Mother wouldn't understand such things, being raised in such simple environments, but a small part of Pride hoped they could appreciate it even ignorantly.

Through all his wonder at the Armstrong's taste there was still a concerned tugging under his skin, a nervous pull to leave and return home without a moment's delay, he must have been close to his new extended barrier, that barely stretched past the estate into the very edge of Central's borders, but as long as he remained in the house and did not dare stray anywhere further than that he would be fine, of course he would. In the mild anxiousness he felt himself clinging tighter to Mother's side, as if that would somehow protect him, and he cursed the naivety of it. She felt his minute trembling, and cooed as she rubbed his back.

"Don't be nervous, Selim. Everyone will be here soon, won't that be fun?" He was being ridiculous, he had never had the opportunity to attend Central's annual Winter Military Ball; he had even planned to force Wrath to attend one in his once intended courting of the Fuhrer's daughter, so he should have been focusing on enjoying himself as he should rather than becoming flustered over things which were irrelevant to his human charade and senseless at best outside of it. He wasn't stupid enough to dare breaking his threshold ever again so why should he care if he was near it? Forcing himself away from her Pride murmured a request to look around the main function room and as quickly wandered off.

The venue of the Military Balls changed every few years or so, sometimes it was held at Headquarters in the empty space often used for important announcements within the military, or the hall where the State alchemist demonstrative exams took place. This year however, Phillip Armstrong had been ever so gracious and offered to allow his mansion to become the designated venue as they had plenty of rooms to spare for a single evening. Wrath had told him once or twice that the gesture was merely an attempt at gaining favour with the higher ups in the military as he had once been, in that his coward of a son Alexander had not been promoted since before the war because of his terribly soft nature. It was probably more of a shameful attempt to help his useless son make more of himself, and how pathetic for a son to depend upon their father to help them for possessing such weak traits. Through his wandering across the designated dance floor and the dozens of dining tables lining it he stumbled across something out of place, a remnant of the room's usual purpose- a single mahogany desk adorned with a strange sleek, shiny black flat mix of plate and basket of sorts, decorated with a pastel floral pattern at its centre. It wasn't unpleasant or too elaborate to stand, but something was…off about it, less a true representation of the past and more a recreation of the concept that failed by the tiniest margin.

"There's quite a story behind that basket, you know." Pride flinched and pulled himself away from the sudden voice, stepping away from the desk. The rather short, portly human with a moustache that grew down to combine with his beard and the beard itself fanned out broad, past his neck and ended flat with two tight curls at the sides. "I apologise if I startled you."

"I…I'm fine, Mister General Armstrong. It's nice to meet you." Pride slowly stretched a hand out to him, and settled noticeably as they shook hands as was appropriate.

"No need for 'General', I retired quite some time ago. Now, the basket. You see, my Great grandfather Aloysuis Armstrong, the first Fuhrer of this country might I add, received a paper mâché bowl at his wedding for his wife." From the time Pride and Aloysuis had spent together it was not absurd for him to have an affinity for such a style, he had always wished to remain as in time with what was fashionable as possible. "When we discovered this fact my wife and I wished to create a homage to the gift, and so we received a modern, but similar basket as a wedding present from a close friend. Such a fine craft, it is such a shame that it is beginning to fall out of the reverence and popularity it once had. Now, the desk on the other hand, I got that in the autumn of 18…" Pride glanced around the still empty room, why had they arrived so early for no real reason? "…and by that time Grumman was winning 11 to my 10, but I was determined to…" Pride slowly began to admit that he had stopped listening twenty sentences back and could only hear the deep rumbling of his voice through his one sided conversation induced daze. "So then General Raven got involved and somehow ended up in..." He was _still_ talking? "…and so after all that I got given the desk out of principle. Quite the adventurous lot, we were. Shame Grumman couldn't make it here tonight, I guess he's still busy not retiring, I don't know how he can still be-" An echo of loud chatter interrupted him, and Mr. Armstrong turned toward the noise, whatever change in his expression hidden beneath his beard and moustache. "Please excuse me; I must greet the rest of our guests. Such a bright boy you are, listening so attentively to me and my old military tales. Again, it is an honour for your Father to have chosen to host the Ball here, all of us greatly appreciate it." And with that he strode off into the main hallway to reach the front door and greet everyone, though of course there was a maid to open the door first.

One of the first to file in was his tutor, strangely enough, and it took him a few moments to realise that the Military allowed family to attend the ball, and even though the Armstrongs were hosting the event, they were still guests, and it seemed reasonable that Mrs. Armstrong's sister could attend as well. She nodded curtly towards him as she passed, walking across to Mrs. Armstrong, and they melted into friendly sibling conversation almost immediately, nothing like she was as a tutoress. Others followed her, and one by one they made their best efforts to talk with Wrath for the briefest moment, to show their respect. First was a grey haired General with sullen, sunken, spectacle covered eyes, a similar looking women walking at his side and Pride thought she looked familiar somehow. A friendly enough looking human with darker skin, a grey beard and an unbelievably white smile came along, all alone, how odd, did he have no one to bring with him? Pride padded along back to Mother and Wrath, still standing in the middle of the room and greeting everyone who passed by while the maids directed them to their seats. Mother smiled down at him, and him at her.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Selim?"

"Yes, Mother, it's nice having everyone from Father's work here. I was just talking with Mister Armstrong. He used to be a General isn't that interesting?" She nodded, smoothing his hair off to the side again.

"That's great, Darling." Pride turned his head as clacks of footsteps interrupted them. It was a rather tall human with sharp eyes and circular glasses surrounding them. A smaller, cold women was walking at his side, no affection there whatsoever. He remained somewhat distant, saluting at Wrath.

"Good evening, Colonel Douglas." That explained it, this was a Military Ball intended only for those of rank Major or higher, compared to everyone else this human was the most insignificant guest thus far.

"Good evening, your Excellency. I am pleased to inform you that we have found a great deal of evidence pertaining to the recent murders of those three families in the suburbs." Mother pulled him closer to her, and he wrapped his arms tight around her waist. "We found a great deal of blood at the recent scene, as well as weapon that is consistent with the previous victims' grievous injuries," She covered his ears, she didn't want him to hear, and he could feel she was shivering too. "and feel as though-"

"That's quite enough, Douglas." Wrath growled, and Pride clung tighter at the sound, even through her hands he could hear it. "Refrain from discussing work matters with me in an attempt to highlight your own so-called success. If you have any evidence to discuss then discuss it with your direct superior officer tomorrow. This is a celebratory occasion and I do not appreciate you ruining it by traumatising my wife and son with such inappropriate details. I find it highly uncouth that you would consider it acceptable speak about such things in your own wife's company. "

"My apologies, your Excellency. I did not intend to cause your family any distress, I…" Wrath must have shot him a glare because he flinched and trailed off, quickly saluting again before scuttling away. In the wake of his forced fear and upset he didn't notice the other human Wrath reacquainted himself with. Mother might have said something about him being a state alchemist, but if he was so upset then he wouldn't care. Would he have cared anyway though, if he was only fascinated by Edward, who _had _been invited but was too busy gallivanting around Amestris to turn up, then what did another state alchemist matter?

"I suppose Mustang won't be here again. The man can't even afford a train ticket?" He scoffed.

"Attendance is not mandatory, Grand; East City is quite a ways off. We cannot expect everyone to travel so far for one evening." Once he had walked off as well Wrath's wife seemed to remember that she was covering his ears, and removed her hands, giving him a comforting squeeze as she whispered not to get upset because everything was fine now, easing him over to their table and offering him a glass of water. They stayed there together until after everyone had arrived, Pride stopped observing everyone who entered and took their seats and focused on what he was to do later to occupy his time after the short meal.

It was some time later that Wrath and his wife took to the floor to begin the start the dancing portion of the Ball. She had pulled him along and a pretty young woman with pale blue eyes and equally pale blonde hair had offered to humour him with a short waltz. Pride had no experience with dancing the waltz, and stumbled childishly around despite his best efforts to keep his pace and footing, but it all degenerated into clumsily placing his feet wherever he could without falling over. The girl—Catherine, he thought he name was—only giggled and let him stand on her feet in good spirits to help him, but he still blushed at the embarrassment of it.

"If it were my sister she would have just outright refused to dance with anyone, she was always stubborn."

"Why isn't she here with you?"

"We invited her, I guess she just doesn't want to come home to us…she must be too busy. I don't think I would be able to live up there in Briggs anyway, much too cold. I'm just happy here with my parents, and Alex and my other sisters." She nodded towards Mister Armstrong and his wife, as well as two burly looking things that might have women if he squinted _really hard_, far too polite to point. "I do wish she would come home once in a while though, we get worried about her sometimes, even though we know she can take care of herself." She smiled sadly. The music of the band began to wind down, and she slowed. "Well, I've kept you long enough; have fun at the rest of the party, Selim."

"You too, Miss Armstrong, it was nice meeting you." Pride made himself scarce as he drifted out towards the small groups of those who had decided against dancing for the time being. There must have been someone of a similar age to his container's appearance that he could make conversation with, there must have been _someone_ of a Major rank or higher that had brought their children along. Eventually he caught sight of a moving grey blob through the crowd, and such had become the way in which he had met Howard and Harriet Hakuro.

"Wow, it must be great being the Fuhrer's son, you're so lucky that he adopted you!" The same faint coldness and sense of superiority over children of a lower class still shone in his eyes, much like the blurry detail Pride could recall about his grandfather those years ago. How similar they were, that they would have been so spiteful had he not been of as high status as them, though it had managed to get Aleistor's son to such a high rank so something in their elitist personality must have been working.

"I'm sure it's the same as being a Major General's son, there's only three ranks between them after all. Is it nice living in New Optain?"

"Home is pwetty, Sewim. Big big biiig house! You should visit sometime!" The much younger Harriet chirped in for him from her place clinging to her brother's leg. She wore a simple, but elegant black and white dress, and for all her immaturity and lack of intelligence Pride could tolerate her presence.

"Father's really busy all the time back home, I don't get to see him much. But he promised us that he'd take us on a holiday at the end of the summer. It's gonna be so much fun I can't wait for it."

"'ll be my birthday then too. I'll be five!" Pride couldn't deny that having them to occupy his time wasn't pleasant, they were better than nothing, and certainly better than the prospect of having to dance again. He could stand the childish topics for now, and even go along with them.

"Father is busy a lot with me too, much too busy for us to go on holiday any time of the year, but he tries to visit mother and me at least once everyday." They could relate in their similar situations ever so easily, but to the extent that it might have not been the most innocent of small talk, and rather Howard confiding his unhappiness with the fact that his father had no time for him, because he believed he could understand that too and was the same as him. As Pride had no true experience with such things (of course not) he thought it better to change the subject as subtly as possible. "You must have taken a train to come here, right? Was it nice? Is it the train you will be taking to go on holiday as well?" Before Pride could wait for Howard to reply something smashed into the back of his legs and began tugging on his coattails. He managed to stay standing, and turned around to inspect whatever had so rudely tried to push him over.

"Hiya!" The voice screeched in an unbelievably high pitch. It was a girl wearing a gaudy floral dress, a bright red cloak covering her almost completely, its hood obscuring most of her face as well.

"…Hello, little one. Who're you?"

"I'm Wittle wed…Writtul…widing…"

"Little Red Riding Hood?" Harriet asked.

"Yeah! Is _costoom_." Pride stepped away and resisted the urge to glare at the girl's idiotic antics. Had her parents neglected to realise that formal dress was expected for all guests?

"_No_, what is your name?"

"I'm Elicia, and I'm…" she glanced down at her fingers, tapping them together and mouthing something. "Two! You're Sewim, Papa told me about you! My dad's fwiend wants your dad's job!" Pride was seriously beginning to wonder how many more seconds of this child he could stand. Why were her parents being so irresponsible and letting a two year old wander around by themselves?

"Oh, is that so? Well, that would be quite…impossible, Elicia, believe me." She ignored him, already turning attention towards Harriet instead, latching onto her and childishly dragging her away, babbling something as she went. Howard watched with a quirked eyebrow, giving him a glance.

"Well, that was weird, but at least that's Harriet taken care of now. Anyway, we did take a train here, it took a few hours but it was really exciting, and-"

"Selim dear, it's time to go." Wrath's wife called to him from across the room, waving him towards her. Pride forced a tiny frown.

"I gotta go now, sorry. See you later." He offered out his hand for a proper, adult sort of goodbye, all children tried to act like adults so there was no harm in it.

"Bye, Selim. I'd better try and find Harriet too." Howard hurried off where that irritating Elicia had gone to, and Pride returned to Wrath's wife without another word.

"Hello again dear, did you enjoy yourself?" He nodded, grinning. "I was just talking to Major Armstrong, and he says he knows someone you might like to meet." She stepped back slightly to let him speak.

"Hello there Selim, what a pleasure it is to finally meet you. But I won't bore you with pleasantries; unfortunately I cannot weave profoundly moving speeches like my father so it would be for naught. You see, I have a distant relative living in the countryside, and their family alchemist is particularly skilled, some say that he is capable of even the impossible." Major Armstrong was already a state alchemist, if he would admit to this so called servant being of even higher calibre than himself then…"As you are interested in alchemy it would be my pleasure to contact them and ask if you could meet with their young daughter, and through that their servant." This was unexpected, what a stroke of luck. If he met with this alchemist and determined whether or not he could survive performing human transmutation then he would have another Human Sacrifice for Father, and then there would only be one more to find. Pride only beamed up at him as he should, though it was no longer purely in his act.

"Wow, really? Thank you so much Mister Armstrong."

"We much appreciate such a kind gesture, Major; please don't feel the need to rush anything on our account though."

"It is no trouble; there is nothing more inspiring than seeing the happiness of others because of one's actions." By the time the overzealous human had burst into tears they had established that it was time for them to leave. It was past his bedtime anyway. Wrath was required to stay for a while longer, and as they left Pride could swear he caught him glaring out of his petty jealousy again.

Something cold spattered on his head when he stepped out into the evening air, soft and light.

"Oh my, it's snowing. What a lovely way to end the Ball." The thick flakes of snow clung to his jacket, melting and seeping into their way into his skin. Before he had even taken three steps down the long path that led to the main gate he was shuddering. Hugging his arms tight around him, but it was no use, the snow still falling faster than he could bat it away before it melted again.

"C-Cold…"

"Oh you poor dear, you must be freezing with nothing but your jacket on. Here-" She unbuttoned her coat, draping it over his shoulders. Her breath froze in front of her as a translucent little cloud, but she smiled at him anyway, only ever concerned for him and nothing else. She eased him along the path, holding him so that he wouldn't trip on her sleeves. How much Mother seemed to care for him, so, so much…wait…'Mother', _again?_ What was wrong with him, why did he always end up calling her that no matter how much of a fallacy it was? It was not true, and it never would be. He wasn't so stupid. She was just a lowly human like the rest of them, just Wrath's wife, no, just Lenore, why should he not refer to her by her first name? She was no one important to him. Even so at the very thought guilt at being so disrespectful stabbed inside him, like it was wrong to call her by such a term. But that was all she—

"Thank you, Mother." And yet the word blossomed so freely, tumbled unbidden from his lips regardless of what he thought, and it felt so…right, even if it wasn't true, why did it feel as though it…should have been? Why did he long for it to be the truth?

As he crawled along onto the back seat of the car he kept her coat around him, relishing in the warmth of it, while she was probably freezing in nothing but her ball gown. Pride shuffled closer to her, opening the coat to cover her, trying to keep her warm too. She cared endlessly for him so why should he not do the same? He wasn't so selfish. Pride gave a final glance at the Armstrong mansion, thought drifting to Wrath, of Wrath being jealous that she no longer spent time with him. Well Wrath could be jealous all he wanted. Pride didn't care if he was jealous, so long as it meant that he could stay like this with her, with Mother.

At that moment, she was the only thing that mattered.

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Ooooooh, you know where next's chapter's going!

You guys know that I despise the Pride x Elicia thing, don't you? Well now you do. I despise it OH SO MUCH.

Oh, so paper mache was a very popular material for creating things during the 1700s and 1800s, so I just wanted to include that bit with the basket. Queen Victoria got paper mache gifts as a wedding present too ^_^

I'll try and get next chapter out next week ok everyone ^_^


	57. Theatricality

A/N: Half term lets me stay up til God knows what time to keep writing into the night~! I can't believe I've only got three chapters to go now : O so excited yet sad that it's ending.

Guess what- this chapter is the chapter I break through into the anime continuity! And from now on my dating system implodes and dies, because I have no idea how all of fma before the timeskip squeezed into the autumn of 1914 x_x

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Fifty-Seven: Theatricality**

**May 21****st**** 1914**

Birthdays were peculiar things, when he thought about them. Why humans chose to celebrate them when all it represented was that they were a year older and even closer to the end of their short, meaningless lives was beyond him. With him it was different, far different, with him all his birthdays meant was that another year had passed and that the Promised Day was drawing ever closer. In the four _real _times Father had chosen to make a note of his birthday Pride had only ever had the Promised Day in mind, nothing for himself, only that it was 243…225…125…25 more years left to ensure until Father's Plan came to fruition.

Father might have not wished to celebrate any of his birthdays since then, but that did not mean that Pride did not realise this one's significance, that was to be his final birthday in Amestris as it existed at the moment, and that in a short nine months or so Father would become a God and all time after would become irrelevant. Pride longed for nothing more than Father's happiness.

It made sense that Father was much too busy to oblige him with such childish human affairs, and at any other time Pride would have thought nothing of it. Of course, no such luck with Mother there to fuss over him in every which way, and gush about how he was growing up so fast. It was such a special occasion to turn three hundred and twenty fou–_ten_. He would humour her, which was all it was, he had been much too cold on his previous birthday, too embroiled in his grieving to enjoy it, he had might as well enjoy his last birthday with her rather than not mentioning it all. Like she could even do that.

Her plans for his birthday were numerous to say the least, a Thursday away from studying not withstanding, gifts and whatnot and several new white shirts to add to his identical collection of them. Pride had chosen to remain in his usual attire to create a sense of normalcy for what was to occur. There had been a cake like any birthday should have had- a delightfully quaint, round sponge cake with pastel blue icing and ten white candles. Not too big, but enough to share between the three of them over afternoon tea and biscuits. In order to make a flawless first impression the fleeting thought of saving a small slice of the cake had fluttered by in his mind once or twice, but feeling that he shouldn't waste the cake on someone he had never met and for the most part was of little importance he gave Mother and Wrath the pieces instead. They had both made sure he took the biggest slice, all for him. They wanted him to be happy, oh so happy on his birthday. Pride'd had a birthday cake before, two lifetimes ago, maybe three he could never tell, made from melons and flour and baked like bread so not really a cake at all. Besides, that was not one of his true birthday celebrations, only a human forgery, so this was his only _true _cake. As his undoubtedly _first_ birthday cake it was quite pleasant, sugary and sweet with the faintest sliver of an agreeable taste.

Mother had promised that she would bake him a special cake for his birthday next year, small enough to be just for him with just the one candle and speckled with baking chocolate. She was ever so excited to be baking again, but…_next year_… she would…

It would all be over before that.

But such trivial nonsense was unimportant, especially when his birthday was _not _the most important aspect of today, never mind any other day and certainly not more important than Father's ambitions. Still, tolerating the evening with the Armstrongs' distant relative and discovering more about the family's supposedly extraordinary servant was imperative, and as was required of him he would play his part to perfection. As if anything less of him was expected.

"So your servant is an alchemist too? That's so cool!" There wasn't much time left for him to continue with the pleasantries, she was only going to be here the once so he might as well wring everything the child knew about the potential Human Sacrifice from her as soon as possible. They'd taken long enough anyway. Alexander seemed to have forgotten that he was arranging a meeting, so four months had been wasted in that time, and even then only a single evening was agreed between his Mother and hers as suitable. It was a horribly ungrateful meeting though, all on the daughter's terms- Rosaline, her name might have been, it really was of no consequence what she was called- she and her mother were strictly visiting Central for other reasons, and were using them as a free place to stay and a suitable distraction for the evening. How selfish of them.

"Jude has long served our family, Selim." Her mother answered for her. "He was a good friend of my late husband's; I feel it is only right that we allow him to remain in our estate for as long as he wishes. It is what my husband would have wanted." Much like some of the parents at the Military Ball, her mother was quite a bit younger than his own, and acceptable in appearance enough for a human, with her auburn hair half up and down, pulled back with a flat gold coloured clip and her pale yellow dress. There was something like sadness in her small round eyes, was the ordeal of losing her husband the year or so before still affecting her that much? Her daughter hardly seemed affected at all. "We cannot think any less of him simply because of his impairment." Impairment? Did that mean he'd had something taken from him by the Truth? From their squashed heap in the car as Mother sat in the front seat and Pride was forced into the right side of the back with the two of them (his bodyguards were stalking close behind in their own car) the girl turned to him.

"Do you like alchemy, Selim?" Having only known her for the extent of their car journey Pride could not discern whether she was a tolerable human or not. For the moment he reserved his opinion on the child, settling into his usual enthusiasm.

"I love alchemy! I want to become a state alchemist too like the _Tiny Alchemist _so I can help my Father, Rosaline." Her clothing choice was as inconvenient as it was somehow fitting- how was he supposed to know that she owned her own light blue dress and cardigan with a white trim, a pale reddish-pink bow and thick black headband to match his own attire perfectly. At least they would not look too dissimilar when sitting together later on, but having never seen another wearing his unique colour scheme the coincidence was rather disarming, and yet, the concept of not being alone in his and his Mother's tastes was…comforting, somehow.

"Not Rosaline, _Rosalie_, Selim. Oh, do you mean Mister Edward? He visited us a few months ago." Why would the Elric boy choose to visit such a prestigious but obscure family, what did they hope to achieve by seeing them? Could he have been…wishing to meet with Jude as well? What were they looking for…? Pride made a note at the back of his mind to tell Wrath to keep a much closer eye on the brothers once they returned to Central and thought nothing more about it.

"Oh wow, really? I wish he could visit me some day." She nodded, recalling the events with ease, like nothing else in her isolated and boring life had occurred since then and that it was the only thing of interest worth mentioning.

"Uh-huh, he wanted to talk to Jude about something, so I went to play with his weirdo-armour-little-brother," Pride didn't think he could have ever anticipated how coarsely she spoke, little more than a commoner's tongue with such language, even little Harriet Hakuro had spoken more elegantly in her toddlers' babble. Part of him wondered what failures had occurred with her own tutor for her to have turned out this way, whoever he or she was, they were most certainly no Minerva Wespe. "and the weirdest thing was that he _really_ _was _holl…uh…" Rosalie faltered, losing her grasp on whatever she wanted to say, and nervously stuttered, drumming her fingers erratically over the large ribbon covered box on her lap that she'd arrived with. "so I showed him…Rosa-" Her mother touched her shoulder gently, giving her a feeble nod to discourage her from whatever she had tried to squeak out. "…Never mind. It's a secret, I can't tell you." She covered her mouth childishly with both hands, just to show how serious she was. "Sorry."

"N-no, don't worry Rosalie, keeping secrets is fine, don't break your promise and tell me about it, that would make whoever you promised it to sad." Rosalie forced a twitch of a smile, and her mother settled down as well, her hand returning to its place across her lap.

"What a lovely thing to say, Selim." She faced forward again, no longer speaking to them. "You have raised a wise boy, Madam Bradley."

"Oh, please don't flatter me, I can't be given all the praise. All I ever do is fuss over him and spoil him rotten," Mother laughed in good humour, giving him a fleeting aside glance. "and because he's adopted no one can say I'm being too indulgent. Nothing is too good for Selim, within reason of course, Ms Hamburgang." Rosalie catching part of the conversation she tore her gaze away from lazily staring past him to admire the city scenery and directed her focus fully on him once more.

"You're…adopted? How come?"

"Yes, real mother and father…they died." Seven-going-on-eight year old she was Pride assumed that a learned human child such as she should have been able to understand and react appropriately without making a fool of herself by hyperbolising the situation. Her hand came to clamp over her mouth again as she gasped, and for a moment she seemed unable to form anything suitable.

"I…I'm sorry that your parents died, Selim." It was far too disgustingly heartfelt, they way she whispered it out so succinctly, her head bowed and boring a hole in the plush carpet of the car as her legs swayed and her shoes brushed over it. Having one's parents die was not such a rare occurrence for her to have never thought it conceivable even in her cozy countryside manor, so why…why did it affect her so much, even after her own father had died…?

There was something seriously amiss with this girl, suspicious even.

After an uneventful and silent ten minutes with nothing to do but stare out the window they finally arrived where the Hamburgangs were expected to be on their predetermined outing to Central. Pride slipped himself out of the door as the chauffer opened it with a smile. He craned his neck upwards, scanning every inch of the building in awe. For all the time it had been standing, Pride regretfully admitted that he had seldom paid any attention to the Central National Theatre, constant renovations ensured it didn't look weathered by the two centuries that had passed since its construction, but even so there was something old about it, in a nostalgic way.

"If I may ask, what play are we going to see, Ms Hambugang?" He had enough trouble trying to get a suitable and well constructed answer out of Rosalie so Pride decided upon asking her mother instead, she had selected the play after all.

"It is a play that my husband's family wrote a very long time ago, as this year is the play's one hundred and fiftieth anniversary in Central, and one hundred and seventy fifth overall, I felt as though we are obliged to attend the first performance of the year. The theatre company was only too happy to arrange that they perform it today. I am sure you will enjoy it, Selim."

"Why do they not start it on the anniversary of it being opened the first time?"

"Well…the playwright's sister went tragically missing the day before the play was to reopen in Central for its twentieth anniversary in the city, and he was so distraught that he forbade the play to be shown in the autumn again. So now it runs from late spring until the day before she went missing each year." Though she was only married into the family it seemed she had acquainted herself with the concept and the tradition of it rather quickly, and so the answer was everything he had hoped it would be, not like he would have gotten if he'd asked Rosalie of course.

"Oh, ok."

Once inside with Mother's hand gently wrapped around his the theatre manager led them around because of who they were and how important to tradition their attendance was. Pride almost wrinkled his nose at the idea that the Fuhrer's family could be anything but the most importance attendees the theatre would ever see, and here they were as guests to the Hamburgang family! It would have been outrageous if he could have brought himself to actually believe it.

"As the play is premiering tonight we have set up a collection of items pertaining to the event, which has helped us, in this year's production, to create more realistic costumes that are closer to the genuine articles." He led them towards a tall glass box containing a smudge of purple from this distance. "One such example is what we believe to be the actual coat, that for years we thought lost, we are eternally grateful to the one who donated it to us." Pride inched himself closer to the box that was a little over his height tall.

It was a long purple coat; it might have been silk but trapped in glass he couldn't be sure. Its bright golden embroidery that grew along its trim and flared out in soft swirls was still as perfect as it ever was, never showing its true age. Oh, oh _oh. _Why was _this _here?_ How could…?_

"Who…who donated this to you?" Pride forced the words out syllable by syllable, his expression nothing but curiosity and excitement like it should have been. A ways off he could even see that in an identical glass box were his golden waistcoat, his cravat and his and puffy violet trousers.

"Oh, we were donated all the Prince's clothing by a woman named Solaris a few months ago. She said that she had found them by mistake in her attic, and assumes that one of her family must have come to possess them after the fall of the monarchy." Part of him didn't want to believe it. Lust had stolen them from him, and donated them to the theatre company without a second thought?! How impudent, what gave her the right, they might have been stolen from _her _son in the first place but she had given them to him on Father's orders, what gave her the right to take them back without even a murmur of her intentions. Pride might have never desired to hear her voice again but that did not mean she could simply- No, there was no point becoming too irritated, that was what she wanted of him, to continue to prod as she always had. He would not give her the satisfaction of it. Besides, he would have never worn the clothes again.

But… if the play was based upon _that_, then the play was…

…_The public has grown to despise the monarchy in recent years, especially with the Luptons' play becoming popular again…_

_This_ was the Luptons' play! Pride spun around on his heels, and pointed, despite the indignity of it straight at Rosalie, and ignoring the way she flinched and clutched her box close to her chest he cried out.

"You…you're…it's you…you're the descendants of P…P…" The name eluded him, flitting about through unpleasant memories, the name of that dreadful human child who had been allowed to escape with her life for far longer than she should have, and even then his opportunity to punish her for her ignorance had been stolen away by Gluttony. That was it. "…P-Pr-Priscilla Lupton!" By now she'd recovered, still hugging the box close, but nodded at his hysterics calmly.

"Actually, we're the descendants of Percy, her older brother; he's the one who wrote the play after all! That's why we're here, isn't it? For the anniversary, did you forget?" Of course he didn't forget, it was their ignorance in neglecting to inform him of what play they had intended to see that had caused his reaction. But did Mother not know either, when she had seen just how upset he became about the little coincidences between the royal family and his own family's end? Fearing the worst he dashed forward and wrapped his arms tight around her waist, not sad at all. She needed to understand, if she pulled him away now then he wouldn't be able to find out all he could about the potential Human Sacrifice for Father.

"I'm ok, Mother. I'll be fine. I don't mind watching this play. I'm the one who asked Rosalie to come here so I won't get upset, I promise!" She didn't seem convinced; could she not see his excitement, how much he wanted, ever so wanted to see the play? Why not? Mother sighed, a motherly, what-am-I-going-to-do-with-you sigh, and rubbed his head with a smile.

"Ok, Selim, if that's what you really want."

0 * 0 * 0

_How dare they, such slander, such perversion of the truth about my family, how we suffered and died at your Father's hands, at Lust and at your hands too! How dare they weave such things and use it for profit! _

Pride could hear _her _hissing her hateful things in his head, and did his best to ignore her. At first it had merely been a quiet sobbing inside him, as he watched the eccentric actress portraying ditzy, irresponsible Queen Sylvi_a _bounce across the stage spewing nonsense, with every second sentence of hers being her declaration of her manic desire to return to Amestris without delay, often earning a guffaw from the audience at her idiotic antics (and that would only make _her _even more miserable). In the very first scene, where the actress had held the doll substituting for the newborn Prince she had been cooing senselessly about her dear child, as if forgetting every logical thought, until she shrieked as she remembered what Lust had done. It was merely a constant fizzing annoyance that Pride could effortlessly tune out, and he casually observed what remained of the play without any more interruptions. The front row was naturally the best place to sit, as Rosalie had so childishly reminded him as she chose where they were all going to be seated, and being given the whole front row for the four of them (and their two guards) the separation from the other attendees kept Pride's claustrophobia at bay.

"And from that one tragic event, foolish Prince Selim's heart became consumed with grief. He became almost mute, refusing to speak to anyone but his faithful Servant. His once hair of a rich brown darkened into a murky black, his pure, deep blue eyes clouded, and it is his blackened heart that caused him to make such a dreadful choice…" The ensemble lamented from the corner of the state, gliding off as one as the spotlight illuminated the disheveled, yet regal looking figure on centre stage. The excitable and optimistic child playing Selim now stood low and listless, while his perfect replica of the Selim of old's coat fit him with ease. No crown of Sylvi_a_'s sat lopsided on his head, no one would have ever known about such things, or survived to pass the knowledge on.

"Mother and Father are gone…I'll be all alone here, I can't rule Amestris and Aerugo…I can't…I just can't! What should I do…?" His thoughts echoed aloud, imbued with fear and sorrow and the deepest undercurrent of something less than sensible. He paced to and fro, so unsure of what he could possibly do while his Servant reiterated how acceptable it was that he not wish to speak to his subjects yet, as long as they knew he was alive and well it was fine.

"Aww, he's such a good actor, isn't he, Selim?" Rosalie whispered to him from the seat on his left.

"Yes, it must be hard to act well at such a young age. I bet he's only a little older than you, Rosalie." She flicked through the play's programme, trying to discern the cast list in the low lighting.

"Oh, he's called Toby Talbot," she flashed him a glance of the programme, pointing at a photograph. "and oh—he's going to be in _Peter Pan _this winter! He'd be so amazing in that! I bet he can act even better without a wig bothering him!"

"What's that?"

"Oh, it's a play, and a book too. You haven't read it?"

"No."

"Well you should, or wait until we watch it together in the winter. Promise you'll take us to watch it."

"Have you seen it before?"

"Well, once when I was younger we raised enough money to go visi…" She covered her mouth again, shaking her head. "I-I-I mean…I bought the book once." Pride was well aware of the National Theatre's charitable side, where it showed lighthearted children's plays for all the poor children of Central on one night a year for a small charge that was a fraction of the original admission price, or perhaps free for those visiting from local orphanages. But that didn't apply to her so why was she hesitating so much? By now the boy had pattered across the stage, towards his toy chest, and produced the dagger he had received about half an hour before for his birthday, back in Aerugo. Though his Father had emphasised the notion of it being merely a symbol of his status the wet, desperate sparkle in the boy's eyes showed his heartbroken appraisal to be much more focused on its true functionality rather than anything sentimental anymore. He merely pushed it into its sheath and then his coat pocket, trudging off stage as the lights dimmed for a scene change.

"He spilt the contents of every gas lamp, stole from his parents' wine cellar and drenched every inch of the castle. Even his ever loyal servant could not escape, drowned in a vat of wine, his final act as the castle was alight. Such vile actions littered his despair, his mind already made up, and it was only that determination that allowed him to commit such atrocities. Such a foolish child…" Again the soft, pale yellow of the spotlight filtered in, falling on the pure white of the pristine bathtub.

The boy dragged himself along, skulking closer, though at the same time he was almost in awe of it. Pride remembered what it was like, back then it was on Father's orders and that was all. For someone to have twisted it, tried to find a naïve explanation for it, one that a weak willed child could have concocted; it wasn't something Pride had ever thought about, the general opinion on what had happened.

The smoke billowed in across the stage, and his quiet sniffling bled into coughing then into weeping, and in only his white shirt and long baggy underwear he clambered into the tub. One mistake already. How could such lies and inaccuracy be lauded as popular belief? Mother probably already knew what was about to happen, and hugged him, burying her face in his shoulder. "Such a poor boy, how cruel that he should lose his parents, and to have such a responsibility pushed on him, it wasn't fair. He was even younger than you; it's horrible, just…horrible." Rosalie turned to him, blinking, confused almost at the affection.

"She really loves you, doesn't she, even though you aren't her real son?" Pride leant forward out of Mother's arms to hear her better, nodding with a warm grin, having long since accepted Mother's love. "Then…you'll never be a real part of her family, no matter how well she treats you." His smile dropped in an instant. Mother loved him, of course she did…had she not loved him she would have not doted upon him for over a year…Rosalie had no idea what she was talking about.

"No, you're wrong, Rosalie." Pride kept his voice low to avoid drawing attention to himself, like it was the only thing he could do. "Why can't she love me, like she would love her own child, what difference does it make that I'm not hers? If I love her back wholeheartedly why should my love not be worth as much? What made you think such a thing? You aren't adopted; you still have a parent left." She flinched, even though Pride was quite certain it was the truth, and said nothing more on the matter, turning her attention back to the play.

Shuddering, poor Selim raised the knife higher, and with a final shriek from the orchestra's violin dragged it across his neck, pretending to slump down deeper into the bath. The spotlight began to flicker and fade, melting into darkness and the boy bleated out a weak, gasping cry.

"Mother, Father…I feel faint…I…I'm frightened…I'm sorry I couldn't…" The light faded completely as he trailed off. The orchestra fell still and silent, as the entire audience followed. Pride might have found offence with a number of things, the fact that they had changed it so that he had cut his throat instead, rather than his arms, their fabrication of his dying words, the order of events and any number of things that couldn't have been further from the truth. But how could he ever hope to speak against it, to try and defy almost two centuries of what had been accepted? It was futile to even attempt to imply anything contrary, no matter how much he wished to. Rosalie tapped softly at her box again, and with a sigh turned back to him.

"You're right, Selim, I'm sorry. I'm sure your step-mother loves you very much." Pride could faintly hear something on stage about how the monarchy was cast aside and Aloysius Armstrong dutifully became Fuhrer to stop the country falling to ruin, but compared to her seeing sense and apologising him for such disrespectful remarks it didn't seem so important anymore.

"That's ok, Rosalie. I know you didn't mean it." She perked up, relishing far too much in his acceptance, as if she had actually realised how wrong she was.

"Tell you what. I was gonna wait 'til the play was over," With two careful, flowing pulls she tugged the ribbon on her box open, "but I'll just give it you now." and lifted up its contents, holding the thing out for him. It was a large, strange, dull looking furry thing with black rings surrounding its bead eyes and a stripe ringed tail. It looked vaguely familiar; Pride might have once seen it from one of Father's books on foreign fauna and other non-indigenous wildlife, to see an oversized imitation of one was peculiar. What was she showing him one of these for? Why had she even brought such an infantile thing with her?

"It's a raccoon teddy. Happy birthday, Selim!" As she pushed it affectionately into his arms he found himself blushing lightly at the unexpected occurrence. No one had ever given him a birthday present before, outside of Father occasionally giving him a Stone to keep him well, or Mother's obligated plethora of gifts the year before. Rosalie wasn't obligated to give him anything, especially not when they had just met. He didn't understand it. "This was one of Rosalie's favourite toys I bet, and I like it too, so make sure you take good care of it." The strangeness of her referring to herself in third person and her misuse of tenses managed to distract him enough to push the unusual feeling away. This raccoon paled in comparison to all his other gifts as a hand-me-down, it was all a trivial trinket for her family to become close to his, nothing more.

"Thank you, Rosalie, it's really soft, and fluffy! I promise I'll keep it safe."

"I'm happy you like it, it took me ages to decide which one I should give you." She applauded gently as the performance came to an end, the curtain falling for a final time. "Today's been fun, maybe I can come visit again in the winter, and we can see that other play together." The winter before the Promised Day…that could be ample time for them to incarcerate Jude to determine if he would be a suitable sacrifice, but there was no guarantee she _would _bring him. All he had to do was…

"I'd like that, but only if you bring your servant with you so I can ask him about his alchemy, and if you write in advance so I can ask Mother if you can come. Promise you'll write first, ok?"

"I promise, but you promise you'll take us here again, won't you, cross your heart?" She gestured an X shape over her chest, watching to see if he would do the same. Though Pride had heard of the immature saying, he hadn't anticipated it coming from someone like her. Rosalie was as isolated as he was from other children, was she not, being of such status? She should have never have used it on others, or even heard of it, then again he had managed to find it out, but only from his outings upstairs. Something sparkled in her eyes, as if, in some far off, unreachable place in her past she had used it before and had been denied it ever since. Underneath her coy, boisterous veneer she longed for him to play along, just once, to appease whatever secret she was keeping. For once he did, smiling boyishly and imitating the looping with his finger effortlessly, not to preserve her own tenuous happiness of course, how absurd, only to ensure they remained close enough for the next meeting to go ahead. Of course that was all it was.

"Cross my heart, Rosalie."

0 * 0 * 0

**June 6th 1914**

This was certainly an unexpected, but completely appreciated turn of events. Well, anything after what he had been anticipating would have been better, but in this case it was a genuine appreciation as well. After a year and three months living with Wrath and _his wife_ Pride had almost forgotten what it was like to walk down the ancient stone corridors that led to his true home, forgotten the feel of padding along them in his container rather than occasionally stretching his shadow across to monitor Sloth. The idea of seeing Father again, for whatever reason, was more than worth the time he had spent away from him on his orders.

"Father just said he wanted a word, and then he wants me to show you something."

"Then you shall return me to the basement, I assume?"It wasn't that he wanted to return to Wrath's house by any means, if Father desired that he cease his game of house he would do so without any hesitation, it was merely what he had presumed, given where Envy had taken him from.

"Yeah, we made the Doc' write your report up all nice by himself, you can take that back with you." He did _not _shiver at the mention of _him_, that was an unfounded and foolish assumption.

Pride had been preparing for this day for a month or so, he'd seen it circled on his calendar, that wretched Saturday that he could have spent with Mo—Wrath's wife, the third, the penultimate examination that he would need to suffer through. He'd done up his one blazer with the tight buttons, just to spite him, tied his discoloured, creased tie into a messy knot around his neck, wore the shirt that he'd hidden from being washed, with a chunk of the collar cut off where there'd been a nasty blood stain from when he'd bitten him the first time, or maybe when he'd lashed out with his legs and knocked a tooth out, and he'd chuckled it off, just so that he wouldn't soil another one of his shirts. His preparations had been in vain, and instead he'd met a much more jovial Doctor, the façade he tried to be with his siblings and with Father, exaggerated to a farce in Envy's playful disguise. Envy would never have understood why he had looked so relieved.

Father made no attempt to acknowledge their presence as they stepped out of the corridor, most likely reading, and Pride did not mind at all, only bowing once he reached him.

"**Good afternoon, Father. If I might, why did you wish to see me?" **It was far too satisfying to use his true voice again after so long, hearing the way it echoed about in Father's lair. Father looked him over, and pursed his lips with a twitch in his eyebrow.

"You are dressed rather crudely, Pride. Why have you chosen to wear such damaged clothes?" Blanching as he realised what a wretched state he must have been in Pride pulled his tie- which had fallen sideways with no collar to support it- back to the centre, tying it properly and tucking it back down the front of his jacket. "I will not tolerate you dressing so informally when you are granted an audience with me."

"**My apologies, Father. I assure you it will not happen again."** His tie still drifted off to the side again as he bowed a second time.

"Now, has Wrath been behaving in any way that could be considered counterproductive to my Plan during your time observing him?" Pride paused for a moment to think, scrutinising every _second _he had been living with Wrath to try and discern any hint that he would consider betraying them in any way. His fondness for his spouse might have been a remnant of his humanity, but Wrath would not be as foolish as to think her more important than their Father's ambitions, wasn't he? Pride longed for Wrath to be forever loyal as he was so much that he convinced even himself that it was the utmost truth, and answered accordingly.

"**No, Father. He is completely devoted to your Plans, as I have always been." **Wrath wasn't at all hesitant towards their plans at all, he wasn't…he _wasn't…_

"Very good. Continue your observations as you have been, Pride. However, first Envy will show you our most recent exploit in manipulating the humans." Father nodded in Envy's general direction, and waved them both off without another word on the matter. Pride watched him for a moment longer, admiring ever pore of skin, every strand of his hair, every piece of cloth like he would never lay eyes upon him again, and smiling softly he followed Envy up the stairs.

"**How is the Crest of Blood progressing?" **Pride asked as he realised, given the painful efficiency of his bodyguards, that any opportunity for him to escape again to speak with Father or any of his siblings outside of Wrath was severely limited.

"Well, Lust's in Liore wrapping some sap around her finger, Gluttony's with her too of course. Father wants me to go and check it out as well. We should be able get the army involved by the end of September so there's nothing to worry about there. Not sure what Father has in mind for Briggs yet, we'll just hafta wait and see." Even with only seven months left until the Promised Day Pride had no doubt that the remaining two Crests of Blood would be formed easily enough, they had already formed eight, another two should be relatively simple in comparison.

A large mechanical looking door lifted into the ceiling, and Pride inched his way in to inspect whatever Father had devised to ensure the corrupted Generals remained loyal. It was almost too dark to see, and all Pride managed to determine was that the concrete floor was littered with thick piping everywhere, nearly tripping over them once or twice. A soft scarlet glowed faintly in a corner, and with no better point of reference Pride stumbled his way towards it through the dark, Envy following close behind. Pride knew what the glow was, he could just _sense _what they were that way, he always knew. But that didn't explain why.

"**Why are we storing Philosopher's Stones here?" **The large fragments bobbed gently in the pinkish-white liquid they were contained in, different crimson hues swirling through them.

"Well, what did you think they'd want them being stuffed with, _electricity_, Pride?" He scoffed.

"'_**Them?'**_**"** From the glow of the tubing Pride could make out faintly lit silhouettes lining the room, and from the ones nearest him he could see _exactly_ what they were. Humans, hundreds of them hanging by their feet and supported only by tubes stabbed into their backs. No eyes, only smoothed over eye sockets in their place by a thin, leathery layer of the experimental swipe of his finger across the filled gap Pride realised that they weren't humans at all, their flesh skin-like enough, but the familiar feeling similar to Father's skin made it obvious that they were composed of the same resilient material his own container was constructed from. The skin was a deathly pale, like every drop of blood they ever could have possibly contained had drained away. Their legs were long and thin and unbelievably spindly, atrophied to the point that Pride doubted they could ever possibly stand, never mind actually walk. **"So, the Doctor created all of them?"**

"He made the first few, and then got help with some of the other corrupted scientists to make the rest with him. Doubt we're actually gonna use them. They're just for show really; they'll keep them guys in HQ keen 'til the Promised Day, then we'll just get rid of them. Simple enough" Pride wondered how they could ever hope to travel efficiently without eyes, but they were so thin and skeletal, their ribs jutting out, then they were probably too frail to function. "He said something weird actually, the Doctor I mean, when he was filling out your report and I said you were visiting these guys. He said-" Even in front of him Pride knew what Envy was doing as the room illuminated with a series of more vivid sparks. "_Ooh, how delightful that Pride should get to meet my creations, especially given their similarity that I concocted, so like _that precious little thing_ in his own skull, the way it used to be so long ago. Simply wonderful. I hope he likes them._" The _what? _What was the Doctor talking about? There was nothing in his container outside of his shadows, why would he think there was anything other than that? There might have been something, ever so long ago, a tiny speck of a thought from long before he ever received his container, so alone and trapped, but…even then he was a shadow, wasn't he? Of course he was, Father had created him in the image of his own original form, he loved him enough to do such a thing so it couldn't be anything but the truth. "Yeah…I don't know what he was on about; do you have any idea, Pride?"

He looked over them again, their square, blunt teeth bared erased any attempt to force the illusion of them merely sleeping, nothing but soulless and lifeless and completely artificial, and with no hope of being anything more than that. Nothing like him, who had been given life through Father's essence, not to merely be injected with the souls of humans when the time came. Even with the deep red nodes along their faces and their chests and where the tubes were attached they were nothing like true homunculi, even if Pride had never had such things…at least, he was sure he'd never had them…

"**No, Envy. I thought you would have realised by now that the Doctor, even for a human, is quite…eccentric." **It wasn't like anything the Doctor said ever mattered anyway.

0 * 0 * 0

**August 28th 1914**

It started out as a gentle fizzling, nothing more than that, only a low hum of something that intertwined with the voices in his Stone that almost seemed to soothe them, as if he had been paying them any attention in the first place. It was easier to ignore them while he slept, could keep himself distracted with his dreams. Soon though, it had deepened into a pulse that resonated somewhere at the core of him, and with a booming and a rush of energy he was suddenly torn from sleep, his pleasant dreams bursting into a bright, blinding flash of red and he jolted awake. Pride shuddered, his tiny fists grabbing bunches of his pillow, gasping loudly despite himself. His shadows were still and tight, not daring to move an inch.

"**What was that?" **They were too tense to even perform the gentle tugs on his vocal definitely hadn't been Father, Father's alchemy was graceful, perfect, without any faults or petty human emotions and only used when necessary. This was anything but, blotchy and thick with whatever senseless motivation had driven its use, and given the aftershocks of the initial transmutation still shaking his container, more than a little wasteful of the Stone's power. But where would a human get a Stone from? Could it be…who Wrath had told him about? The Human Sacrifice? After a minute or two he calmed enough to let go of his pillow, and for his breathing to return to normal. He thought about returning to sleep, but over the wall of Headquarters through his window, far away but not far enough small sparks flickered again, not that he could feel them, but seeing them was enough. How could Lust have been so stupid as to provide the jaded, bitter veteran of the Ishvalan War with a Stone, no matter how adept at alchemy he was surely that was an unnecessary step? Wrath was probably taking care of it by now, but it wasn't something Pride could bear to sleep on.

Moving his limbs cautiously, and checking his voice, Pride pushed himself out of bed and slipped into his shoes, and ambled his way over to his door. He unhooked his brand new, pure white dressing gown from the back of the door and pulled it on, yawning as he wandered out into the hall. Mother probably wouldn't be in the tearoom if she was waiting Wrath to return, and he made his way along to the stairs, keeping his arms wrapped tight around the banister as he stepped down carefully. With more faint flickers of light from the windows, a strange freezing chill seeped in through the walls, how strange. Was this that alchemist's fault too?

There she was, in the downstairs living room, still waiting dutifully for her husband. She turned to him, like she thought it was Wrath for a moment.

"Selim? What are you doing out of bed? Is something the matter?"

"Mother, it's c-c-cold…" It wasn't a lie, even with his thick cotton pyjamas and his not-long-enough dressing gown he was still freezing. In front of the couch the fire crackled lazily, looking so inviting.

"You poor dear." She patted at the couch. "Here, come and lean on me and then we can be cold together." Without hesitation he rushed forward, into her arms, snuggling close to her, she wasn't cold like him, not with the fire there. One of the guards poked their nose in, suggesting something about evacuating if the situation got any worse, and she tried blocking his ears in vain to stop him hearing. Realising she'd failed she would coo in his ear, telling him not to worry about anything. Pride just nuzzled into her side, listening intently for the warm pattering of her heart through her silk Xingese nightdress, completely calm and relaxed, and once or twice he felt himself almost slipping into sleep again. But he couldn't afford to sleep yet, not with whatever threat the alchemist was causing still too close for comfort, if whatever scorned revenge he wished to carry out on the military then Headquarters would be his first target. Mother needed to leave; she had nothing to do with his motivations, why should she be involved in such things when it had nothing to do with…?

But Father's potential sacrifice was more important, wasn't it? Though…why should Mother be put in harm's way for something like that? No, no, it didn't matter; all of Central's forces were determined to capture the alchemist. There was no possibility of him succeeding with his intentions. Even if all the others failed, Wrath would easily remedy the issue without complaint.

…_Wouldn't he?_

"W-When will Father be home?" Mother patted at his head, running her fingers through his hair.

"I'm sure it won't be long, even though he's very busy helping everyone. Don't worry yourself about it, Selim." Wrath _would_ prevent him from causing too much damage, right? He might have been a Sacrifice but destroying half of Central would be a hindrance to Father's Plan, and Wrath surely understood that. She held him tighter as a small tremor shook the house. "Don't worry, Selim, there's nothing to worry about." Did she know what was happening, what it was caused by? Was she trying to protect him from the harsh truth, that his coveted alchemy could be used to commit such atrocities rather than help others? Pride hoped she wasn't aware of what was going on in detail, that would only make her worry, when she didn't need to. Wrath wouldn't let anything happen to her. He stayed curled up close to her side, clinging to her for a while longer, still watching for any sign of more alchemic sparks from over the wall. Suddenly, more suddenly than it had begun, the something from before seemed to fade away into the air, and he sighed, relieved that it was over. The human must have used the Stone up completely, how wasteful. But did that mean Wrath had killed the alchemist, even though he knew that he was a potential sacrifice? Was this what Father had spoken about, Wrath trying to sabotage them, to the point that he would prematurely kill their human sacrifices? No, there must have been a reason, a good, justified reason. Wrath would come home and explain himself and then everything would be fine again. He barely heard the same bodyguard pop in again to reassure Mother that the situation had been 'dealt with', but he ignored it anyway. Sighing again, he glanced up at her, eyelids drooping.

"I want to go back to bed now. Can you tuck me in again, Mother?" Pride supposed that Wrath could explain himself tomorrow instead. He was much too tired to appropriately address such issues.

Mother needn't know about such things, he shouldn't even think about them around her.

0 * 0* 0 * 0 * 0

For those who haven't seen the first Brotherhood OVA: Rosalie Hamburgang is the daughter of the posh and high class Hamburgang family who live in the countryside. Ed and Al hear that the family's alchemist Jude successfully performed human transmutation to bring Rosalie back to life, and as a result lost his eyes. When they visit they find out that the transmutation failed and only a mummified version of Rosalie came back, and that to stop Jude from feeling the loss of his eyes in vain they lie and say that the transmutation worked, and adopted a girl from an orphanage named Amy to pretend to be Rosalie. This is why 'Rosalie' talks simply (her Japanese is very simple compared to Selim's), because she isn't used to pretending to act as Rosalie. I wanted her and Pride to interact because they both are adopted, and they both are required to act to remain in their family, though Rosalie thinks that her adopted mother doesn't love her because it's only to keep Jude happy, whereas Pride warms up to Mrs. Bradley. ^_^

Phew, I'll try and get the next chapter out before I go back to school next week ^_^


	58. Autumn Fire

Early hour wise because I have college again tomorrow ;_; taking a week off because I'm going to a con this weekend, so excited ^_^ I'll try and reply to everyone's reviews by PM again too ^_^ Oh yeah, my dating is now severely dead and wrong, because I've calculated that its impossible for me to fit everyone in so…yeah…blame Pride's bad memory.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Fifty-Eight: Autumn Fire**

**September 4th 1914**

Despite his affinity for his usual attire, the uncomplicated contrast of pale reds and blues and a soft brown that made up the clothes he wore almost every day, after what had happened when he had visited Father Pride had jumped at the offer to fashion new clothes for himself for the time that Father would ask to see him again. Only the best for Father, only his very best clothes were acceptable for an audience with him.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Miss Togg." Though Pride would have preferred to not continue lining the Toggs' pockets with cenz year on year (this generation's 'T-named-daughter-or-sister' seemed to be a 'Theresa', how original), there was no denying that the family of tailors were the best at what they did in the way of efficiency. The economy had worsened to the point of ridiculousness in recent years, so Pride had stopped caring; at this rate this outfit would cost 20,000 cenz. Yes, it was not worth caring about, especially not with all of the Fuhrer's fortune to support them.

"It's no trouble at all, Madame Bradley; we are honoured that you would choose to use our services to produce your family's clothes. Oh, could you please lift your arm up Selim that's a good boy." She stretched her tape measure across the back of his shoulders, scribbling the measurement into her tiny notepad. "Ok, so that's: height, chest, waist, legs, arms and…shoulder width. I think I'm good, I can work with that." Theresa flipped her notepad onto a new page, writing something at the top before offering the pad and pencil to him. "Now, Selim, can you draw what you'd like your clothes to look like so I can make them for you?"

"Oh wow, thank you, Miss Theresa." At the top of the page there was a childish scrawl of 'Selim's clothes' underlined to make him feel better, talking down to him even though she was naught but a child herself really, barely looking a day over nineteen, if that. Still, he was being treated with the gift of two new outfits; there was no reason that the newest Togg's immaturity should ruin that for him. Pride considered the most refined, sophisticated of clothes that were appropriate for meeting Father that he could think of. First he drew a small, simplified version of himself with two dot eyes and a smile, and slowly he began to form some semblance of the clothes he desired. Trousers? Yes, only trousers were appropriate, in black too, the colour that Father had bestowed upon his siblings as their mix of skin and clothes, and had no qualms with the times he had worn black in the past. While he, in his container, like Wrath, had not been provided with such things that was no excuse for why he should not honour Father's vision in colour schemes. In that vein, what of their nodes? Should he wear something red to compliment it? A tie would do, wouldn't it? He drew a line coming off the tie, labeling it 'red' even though she wasn't making him a tie. A tie by itself would be too crass and would clash with the white of his shirt, so…a jacket, long and bold and the purest of blacks, with…six buttons would do. A few moments later his crude but understandable enough drawing was complete, and he quickly flipped the page to draw his second. This being an outfit he was unlikely to use during a meeting with Father he neglected drawing himself, or any unnecessary details. Pride merely sketched out a vague square that looked like a waistcoat, tagging it 'grey' with three black buttons, at least, he had _meant_ to colour them black, but he didn't care enough that he passed the notepad back to her before he could colour them in or label them as their intended colour, and it slipped his mind anyway. It didn't really matter. Theresa looked over them with a smile, murmuring something about preliminary measurements in comparison to what information she'd already gathered and his proportions.

"Oh, these are really interesting and nice clothes, Selim. I'll do my best to make them perfect for you." She turned to Mother "Now, are these only pre-orders?" Mother nodded, it wasn't as if he was in any special need of new clothes, he didn't need them any time soon. "Ok, how does…the beginning of November sound, for the jacket and trousers, and December…Early January for the waistcoat? Of course during this time we shall be more than happy to keep providing you with our shirts and ties in a much more timely fashion, within a week of you ordering them."

"That will be fine, Miss Togg, there is no need for you to rush your work for us. Selim is a patient boy." Theresa bowed to her, again thanking her for her patronage, picking up her large sewing bag before being escorted out. Well, now that _that _was over what else was he supposed to waste the afternoon doing?

"That didn't take as long as I thought it would, Selim. I was worried that it would have taken so long we wouldn't be able to have our outing today, so I'm happy."

"What outing, Mother?" An outing would certainly be a pleasant distraction for the remainder of the afternoon, no matter where and what it was just spending time with Mother was enough.

"Well, I thought we could go to the library. It would be a nice chance for you to find out about older children's' books that might not be sold in bookshops these days. Would you like that, Selim?" As if he could say no to such an offer.

"Of course, Mother. It sounds like it'll be lots of fun!" Pride just hoped that it wasn't that peculiar girl with the glasses who was too busy reading to actually stamp his books, or even _acknowledge _him on the front desk or else he wouldn't have the time to bring any home with him. Still, even the possibility of that wouldn't ruin their outing, but before she could lead him away with her tender love and affection like she always did and hopefully always would do the Butler opened the door.

"Madame, your new bodyguards are here." Pride knew the Butler rather well, for one he was probably the only male member of staff at the Fuhrer residence that had been a constant fixture since his adoption. Occasionally, when he accidentally stayed awake past his bedtime he would remind him of the time and offer to escort him there, rather than Mother tucking him in. The rift, however unintentional, that he could have created between his Mother and himself by the gesture was most definitely _not _a welcome one, and even though it was not his fault, for all of his charm and loyalty Pride couldn't bring himself to like him because of that one aspect of his job.

"Send them in, Sheridan." It seemed Sheridan had already anticipated her answer, their new bodyguards stepping in immediately. Pride had been determined to ensure that all of his bodyguards thus far were transferred or dismissed once he had deemed them too efficient or irritating. Those first two had gone instantly after the _car incident_ for their incompetence, the following pair for…actually he couldn't remember the reason, but they'd probably deserved it. There might have been another pair after that too but he wasn't sure and didn't really care. Well, now there was a new pair for him to appraise, hopefully they were the good kind of incompetent, the kind that would let him be able to slip away to meet with Father whenever he so desired. Like he expected, they were both sharp eyed with equally as sharp black suits for staff uniforms, but that said nothing about their actual skill, so it was irrelevant.

"This is Saxon." Sheridan motioned towards the barely taller of the two with blond hair. "and this is Sherman, Madame." He was bald instead. Mother only greeting them in the simplest of terms because they _simply must be going_ she led him along, his hand in hers, while their new bodyguards followed close behind.

Though it was not his first priority for today, gauging their effectiveness compared to his previous guards was going to be an interesting week to say the least.

0 * 0 * 0

**September 15th 1914**

"I wonder when your Father will be back. I know he must be busy but why he seems incapable of picking up a telephone to tell us he is coming home I'll never know." She sighed, glancing wistfully at the phone, but tsking at her husband's eccentric yet charming negligence of what doting husbands did. Pride didn't understood _why_ she moped when Wrath was away, only that she did, and that it was his duty as any decent child should do for their parent and kindly distract her from his absence. Still, Wrath had no excuse for being late back from his inspection in the South, making Mother worry so much about him for no justified reason.

"I bet he's on his way back right now, Mother! We should go outside to see if he's there, so we can welcome him home." Distracting her by drawing attention to the fact that he had yet to return might have not been the most sensible of methods of distraction, but when by all accounts he should have been home by now, what else could he do?

"Oh, I don't know, Selim. It's getting late; it's almost your bedtime." This wouldn't do, she _was_ going to allow him to distract her from being sad whether she liked it or not. Sitting here and worrying about him was no good for her.

"Aww, please can we, Mother. I promise I'll go to bed as soon as we've just checked. It'll only take a minute." Smiling his most pleading, convincing smile she relented, allowing him to pull and coax her along into the peristyle surrounding the house. Letting go of her hand he stepped into the peristyle, wandering along from the very bottom so that he wouldn't miss anything in his boyish sense of logic. Mother almost flashed a smile at him. This would be an enjoyable enough ten minutes or so, it would keep her mind from straying at least, and then she could tuck him into bed and hopefully think no more about it. He would come back tomorrow surely and then everything would be fine again. Pride thought nothing of the possibility of him _not _coming back, or, if such thoughts crawled into his mind he dispelled them immediately. Wrath wouldn't do that, he wasn't disloyal or had any reservations towards Father's Plan. He wasn't like Greed; he wouldn't do anything so treacherous or disrespectful… he would never…

And…how could he think of deserting Mother with such immature actions, if she would be the only reason for his disloyalty? That was, if it existed, which it didn't. But Pride shouldn't be concerned about her in such matters, first and foremost was Father's plan and anything else was little more than a triviality in comparison, how Mother would feel should Wrath defect from Father was most certainly _not _his most grievous concern, and should never have been even in a hypothetical sense. What was wrong with him…? Still, the fact remained that Wrath was not so stupid, and would be back as soon as he—was that Wrath? Pride squinted at the tall silhouette at the far end of the path, wanting to believe it but at the same time disgusted that his childish game could have actually succeeded in finding him. Yes, it _was_ Wrath, Wrath just striding about with his usual militaristic gait like he _hadn't_ been away for days and _shouldn't_ have been back hours ago How dare he stalk about so shiftily while Mother was worried sick about him without so much a 'hello' when he came back, however long he had _been _back. What was he doing out here? Well, he could explain himself clearly later, for now Pride needed to do as he should and greet his dear parent after his _exhausting _travels. He probably hadn't noticed they were watching him he was so wrapped up in whatever had made him stay outside for so long.

"Welcome back, Father!" Pride shouted it, but it was a restrained shout, being too loud was disrespectful, dashing across the walkway with his most genial grin. Even though he'd only been gone for a few days, it did feel like longer, and ashamed as he was to admit it Pride was rather pleased to have him back finally, despite the worry Wrath had caused Mother. At least she could stop being concerned for him so much now.

"I'm home, Selim." It was difficult, somehow, for him to properly embrace Wrath like he did with Mother, they were much more brief affairs, didn't fill him with warmth and contentment like Mother's, and maybe that was for the best. Wrath was still his brother and there needed to be a much clearer cut line of a hierarchy even with their game of house as far as he was concerned. Wrath mustn't forget his place. Pats on the head from Wrath were much preferred, and Wrath understanding that allowed the arm's length hug, bending a tad at the waist to reach him, ruffling his hair.

"How was your inspection in the South?"

"It was a lot of fun for an inspection. Why, I even saw the Fullmetal alchemist, would you believe it?" Wrath seemed to integrate himself back into his charade as well as could be expected, jovially rebuffing Mother's suggestion that he step down and enjoy his retirement, while he excitedly chirped about his beloved Tiny Alchemist and expressed his usual mundane desire to eventually become a State Alchemist himself. The alchemy that humans used, that was tainted and vulgar in comparison to Father's held no interest to him, and in its inadequacy and general unpleasantness Pride wondered why any human would ever be interested in alchemy. He asked that Wrath tuck him in so he could tell him a few of his _stories _about what he'd been up to in the south. She hadn't minded of course, watching them go and within minutes Pride had sat himself in the middle of his bed in his pyjamas, waiting with colder eyes and a straighter posture for Wrath to inform him about the inspection.

**"Why were you late, Wrath?"**

"I travelled to Dublith on my way back from South City. There were a few chimeras living there, the human based ones that escaped from our experiments. I disposed of them." Pride pursed his lips, though that was the only action he should have taken, that didn't explain why he was late at all.

**"That should have not delayed you for more than an hour or so, Wrath."**

"I also met the Fullmetal alchemist's teacher, a woman named Izumi Curtis. The townspeople say she can perform circle-less transmutations, so I will discuss whether she will be a suitable possible sacrifice with Father later." Wrath gave him a look as if he thought he wasn't listening, and Pride only nodded for him to continue. "The younger Elric boy also seems to be hollow inside his armour, suggesting that both Fullmetal and the younger brother performed human transmutation." Those were suitable enough excuses, even with Wrath killing the other potential human sacrifice, those two more possibilities would form the required five quite well. "There was one more thing, Pride." The way Wrath waited an unnecessary moment, as if what he was about to say was so important, had the utmost gravity that he needed to pause to even say it. "I found Greed." The air grew thick as they absorbed the three words, and as they sunk in Pride couldn't believe it, no matter how much he wanted to. His eyes slowly but surely widened and his firm, expressionless line of a mouth parted the tiniest bit. He couldn't speak, but Wrath explained himself anyway. "I brought him here. Father melted him down and reabsorbed him before I came upstairs." So that was why, where he'd been and why he had been wandering outside. This explained everything. Not showing the feeling that was threatening to burst from him Pride nodded again, expression never wavering.

**"Thank you for informing me of this, Wrath. You may go now."**

Once Wrath was gone Pride threw himself backwards onto his mattress, not knowing whether he should laugh or cry from the joy of it. The thought of why Father had reabsorbed Greed flitted across his mind once, but it was quashed instantly by the very knowledge that Greed had been given just retribution for his treason against Father, and that was all what mattered. He had been punished and would never trouble Father again so all was well for the first time in over a century.

It was strange though, that Pride hadn't managed to _feel_ Greed's very presence in Father's lair, the way he would have been out of place there, that he was little more than trespassing in the home he had selfishly abandoned to pursue his own terribly human ambitions. How had he not noticed at all, while he was curled up beside Wrath's wife of all people without even an inkling of what was occurring below? _Should_ he have? Had all the others been there to watch Greed be punished, would Father be ashamed that he hadn't wished to observe his judgment too? The room suddenly felt colder now, and Pride burrowed under his covers, pulling them tight around his neck, musing once more.

He remembered that day, when Greed had fled from Father and disgraced himself, he had vowed that someone would find him and ensure he was destroyed for being so insolent, and that he would not be there when he died. It was far better that Pride honour his promise to Greed in saving himself the disgust of laying eyes on him again because he simply did not deserve to see him, than allowing himself the visceral pleasure of the spectacle of watching him die. Of course it was.

0 * 0 * 0

**September 22nd 1914**

Pride thought he might come to enjoy lazy afternoons like this. Though he indulged in the simplicity of it during weekends when Mother hadn't devised an outing for them both, the very alien concept spending a _Tuesday _of all things this way was unbelievably rare and surprisingly pleasing in its lack of structure. Poor Miss Wespe had fallen ill with a premature spell of winter flu, and despite her protests over the phone that morning, Mother had told her to rest and his lesson had been cancelled. He was already doing satisfactory enough in his studies, bright but nothing too extraordinary, so one lost day of tutoring wouldn't cause too much trouble. As such, in true infantile fashion at his muted delight of not needing to study, he had sprawled himself across the couch, head resting in Mother's lap, her enthralled in listening to some sort of audio drama on Radio Capital while leafing leisurely through a book with one hand and gently fluffing up his hair with the other, humming softly from time to time. She always perked up once Wrath returned from his inspections around the country, content in the knowledge that the next time he would be whisked away was at least three months away. Whether he was inspecting the North in the winter or the East in the spring- the East was having their training exercises at a similar time to Wrath's inspection, which would kill two birds with one stone, but…his inspection was only a few days prior to the Promised day…so it wouldn't really matter, would it? No matter what simple enjoyment he took in the carefree time wasting with Mother, after three quarters of an hour laying over her with nothing much to do besides relish in her company he couldn't deny that he hadn't become a tad bored. He was much too polite to excuse himself and risk disturbing her from her book, and he didn't think that playing in his room would make him any happier, wouldn't sate the jittery boredom inside him. Well, he could always…if he was careful. As if he was ever anything _but_ careful.

Certain that neither Mother nor any of his guards would notice at all, Pride allowed an almost invisible line of shadow trickle from his feet down the couch and into the tiniest puddle beneath it. Father may have not wished to see him, but he still had his duties to monitor Sloth, and with nothing in the way of his act to maintain in any physical manner there would be no harm in it. He flowed across the wooden floor and under the door simply enough, and slid along the perpendicular corner between the floor and wall with a tendril little over a quarter of an inch wide, across the identical corridors that he could distinguish with ease now. Not speaking a word to Father because he was resting Pride only gave him a small toothy smile in his shadow before he moved on into the tunnel. While his shadow expanded to coat the walls like water, his container began to wilt, his consciousness splitting too severely without him having prepared for it, eyes glazing, colours fading out, and the sensation of his shadows poured out and not inside him formed as a sort of cold gnawing hollowness. But it could be easily ignored, and he settled down, lethargically and mechanically jerking his limbs to make himself more comfortable. He might have heard Mother saying something about him taking a nap and petting at him again, but it was too echoing and distant too hear. Grabbing a tiny bunch of her dress, he sighed, and let his container fall into what to any human would have thought to be sleep.

Now fully immersed in his place controlling his shadows he focused on reaching Sloth. By now he should have finished digging past where Riviere once stood; heading towards Mt. Briggs he would pass through the next proposed Crest of Blood and the tunnel could move ever closer to completion. It wouldn't be long now if he continued supervising Sloth and kept him efficient with the encouraging promised of being permitted to sleep once he was finished.

Pride must have been close to Pendleton by now, so it was only a matter of time until he found Sloth-Oh, what was that sound? Something like murmuring, and was that a tiny sphere of light a ways off? Pride inched his way along towards the light, and his teeth clenched at what he found. Humans _trespassing_, how had they discovered this place? Maybe they were soldiers from Pendleton that had wandered in here by mistake from digging their trenches too deep. Well, no matter _how_ they had arrived, their presence would be remedied in a few moments. The group of about seven or so chattered amongst themselves, too caught up in the excitement of the no doubt _secret _place where they shouldn't have been and yet their human curiosity had taken them to realise he was there anyway. Slithering forward without a sound Pride trailed behind them, flicking in the corners of their eyes, just minute hands and a quiet glint of teeth here and there until they dared to inspect what could possibly be following them. To see the split second where their mild interest tinged with a hint of fear turned into the purest of terror, Pride thought that might have been what he enjoyed most of all, before he tore through them with his dozens of thin spikes, ripping them apart with the greatest of precision while his grin shone in the light of the lantern they'd brought with them.

Their screams reverberated across the tunnel so far maybe Sloth could hear it wherever he was, slowly being absorbed into the dirt along with their blood but for the most part echoing exquisitely until everything fell into a beautiful, perfect silence. Through it all his shadows rippled, filling with the usual surge of euphoria as he bit into their flesh with his ever widening row of teeth, painting them almost a deep maroon as he squeezed out as much of their still warm blood as possible before devouring them completely. No souls of course, they didn't _deserve _to live on inside of him, but their mutilated corpses had no place remaining here and marring Father's tunnel.

This was what he was created for, what he was _meant _to do! He would dispose of any humans that so much as set foot into the tunnel without reason as quickly, and as effectively as was expected of him until the Promised Day. Yes, of course he would, Father would become a God and then he would be so pr-

"Selim dear what's wrong? You're trembling." Pride snapped back into his container with a shiver, but he'd been shuddering already, his delighted shuddering that had run through his shadows must have extended to his container as well. How could he have been foolish enough to send his shadow along when she was in the same room? Then again, he hadn't expected to encounter any humans in the tunnel so how was he to know? Had they not been there everything would have been fine and he wouldn't be here with Mother fussing over it. He couldn't say their idiocy hadn't been an enjoyable distraction though. Slowly the tremors bled away, enough for him to speak and form a suitable excuse.

"Oh, M-Mother, I…it was just a…a nightmare." Any human child would have considered what had just transpired to be the paragon of everything a nightmare should have been, so he wasn't really _lying_. She just hugged him and cooed something about how awful it was to have a nightmare during a nap, and he clung close to her, trying to melt back into his act after what he'd done. She worried about him, cared for him and loved him so much. His mind began to drift, wondering, perhaps…if she would still love him, if she knew about him. Well… She still loved Wrath, didn't she and she already knew that he had killed hundreds of humans during his time in the military. Surely that was the same; surely, in his case, she would have understood that it was what Father wished of him. Except…maybe, if she knew how much he _adored _slaughtering them, how he _savoured_ every one of their screams and each drop of their blood that he wrung from them. That wasn't the same as purely being required to, was it, the fact that he enjoyed it?

He tried not to think about it.

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**September 30th 1914**

"Goodnight, Selim."

"Goodnight, Mother." After a few moments of keeping still under his covers while he listened intently to make sure she was gone Pride slipped himself out of bed. Something felt…off, for the lack of a better word. It seemed to have been a busy few days, Barry the Chopper, or rather, his soul connected to armour had broken the women they'd framed for the murder of the Lieutenant Colonel that knew too much for his own good (Wrath had told him about the awful whining his daughter had done at his funeral, he'd assumed as much) out of prison and now he had set his sights on being a cumbersome nuisance and had dragged others along with him to break into Father's lair through one of the alchemic laboratories.

Pride stared out his window, considering what he should do. Wrath should have been capable of controlling the issue, and everyone else (excepting Sloth of course) was close enough to Father's lair to prevent the intruders from reaching Father. The small hedges around Headquarters had begun to get swept up in the changing season, healthy green bleeding into a vivid, decaying, rust-like orange. It was strange, that humans could see a certain beauty in the way autumn's fire would spread further each day along most plant life like poison, causing their leaves to crumple and curl, to shrivel, die, and fall, only to melt in the rain that followed, like they had never existed at all. He would never understand it.

As he had promised himself he would never use his shadows again in Mother's presence, and needing to allay his concerns over the impudent creatures that dared to interfere with Father's plans Pride clambered back into bed. Mother would never need to find out. Settling himself down as if he really was going to sleep Pride fluffed up his pillow and lay on his stomach, only letting a small puddle of his shadows stream out, and flow down beside his bed. Though time was of the essence he couldn't risk forcing his consciousness out into his shadows too quickly, and for the moment focused on controlling his breathing. Blinking his eyes slowly until they began to flutter and close, his breathing slowed into long, relaxed sighs, and he forced his shadows further along, out into the streets of Central.

Fifteen minutes later Pride had scoured the streets around each of the alchemic laboratories, and determined that, given the number of scientists huddling worriedly outside, that it was the third laboratory. It seemed Wrath was already on his way though, him catching a glance of his car heading in the laboratory's general direction, so left the area be. He could trust Wrath with something like that. Well, that was Wrath accounted for, so where were Envy and—oh, there— Gluttony. They were currently holed up in an alleyway, and Pride watched them from above in the highest shadow on a wall. What were they doing here, didn't they know that someone had reached Father's lair? Without Lust to help mediate them, or rather control them Pride doubted the two of them could function effectively, never mind correctly carry out Father's orders. It was no wonder they were having so much trouble dealing with the two Xingese humans they were fighting with for whatever reason. It was strange though, how no matter what form Envy took as he dashed through the alleyways, transforming into civilians and animals, that the female human could locate him effortlessly, while the male and his unusual sword focused onslashing at Gluttony, consistently draining souls no doubt. Pride resisted the urge to roll his eyes at their combined idiocy, still remaining out of sight.

"Gluttony, the crowd's getting bigger" If both of them carried on this way he might need to intervene and remind them of what they _should_ have been doing. Not for now, though, all their futile attempts to flee were only drawing more attention to themselves, and he kept his teeth hidden beneath the liquid surface of his shadow, eyes only open as small magenta slits but could see perfectly.

"Yep, can I eat them?" Eating all the spectators of would only waste more time that they didn't have, that they should have been spending dealing with the other humans instead. It was like they didn't even know. Pride wouldn't have put it past them if they didn't.

"Actually…yeah, swallow them all." Envy must have said something else but Pride stopped listening, focusing on the bright scarlet sparks running along Envy's body, or the dark smirk that had formed over Gluttony's face. Was Envy going to change into his true form of all things in this cramped street, where everyone could and _would_ see, or Gluttony to utilize his fake Gate? What were the two of them thinking?! He needed to act.

**"What do you think you are doing? You have failed to complete your mission, and made a spectacle of yourselves in public. Also, you were irresponsible enough to let someone trespass in our Lair. What a shame." **Envy glanced around at the sound of his voice, but Pride didn't give him the pleasure of forming any larger eyes or teeth.

"Our lair was—intruded?!" Oh, so he _didn't _know after all. That was no excuse for even considering what he had been.

**"You are too careless, Envy. It's time you retreated for today." **How dare he even _think_ of trying to retort.** "Be quiet. Do you dare to make a display out of your disgraceful self more than you **_**already **_**have?" **While Envy was scowling, gritting his teeth indignantly, Pride's still tightly squinted eyes remained perfectly calm and in control. He was the oldest; he was meant to be above them in every way. He watched them leave like they should, and confident that they had been put in their place, Pride returned to his bedroom.

His container groaned tiredly, rolling onto its back as the feeling slowly bled back into it. At least now, hopefully Envy and Gluttony would not be causing any more disruptions while Wrath took care of the situation underground. Without Lust with them they were reckless, and didn't know how to do anything even remotely sensible or useful with themselves. Whatever she was doing now that she had chosen over monitoring them, Pride hoped it was worth the risk of leaving them alone. Despite his disuse of his container he still managed to yawn drowsily, nestling deep into his bedcovers and curling up in a tired ball, finally able to relax.

It would be fine to rest now, Wrath was taken care of, Gluttony and Envy were taken care of. Drifting off into a quiet, dreamless sleep, he hoped that Lust, wherever she was, would learn to keep those two at her side from now on.

0 * 0 * 0

_Oh, so you want to learn about women?_

To say he was close to Lust was…not really the truth. Wrath had never considered it before in any great detail. The only time they had ever spoken at length early in his life had been to help him court Lenore.

_Pride aint giving you much help, I assume?_

Clearly her advice was simple but effective and led to a healthy three decades of marriage, but there had always been something, a faint flicker of a thing in her eyes whenever she mentioned _him._

_I'm sure Pride likes you, more than he likes any of the rest of us at least…_

Being nothing more than a Warrant officer at the time, not even a Major, he'd been allowed to push, and be the tiniest bit curious about the hurt drenched over her reaffirmation of Pride's apparent fondness for him that in actuality, from what Wrath had seen of it, didn't exist.

_Oh, you wouldn't believe me even if I told you how he used to be. I scarcely believe it after so long. Don't dwell on it; you'll never get anywhere if you think about the past._

It had been a feeble rebuff, too feeble for Lust's confidence and air of superiority that came with being the second oldest. After a polite, respectful verbal prodding she relented, as if she had wanted him to ask in the first place.

_I remember Pride, how he was, how he could love and cherish every little thing. He used to be the sweetest thing, kind and gentle, with the fullest devotion to Father that any child could have had for their parent. That's the only thing that stayed the same. _

Wrath didn't think, even looking back on it now, that he would ever accept what she'd told him. It seemed impossible, given Pride's demeanour as his eldest brother, for it to be the truth, no matter how candidly she spoke of it, as if she had been holding it inside of her for a _very _long time.

_Of course, those weren't traits that Father desired in his first child, too _human, _but he never said a thing, just watching him befriend humans, be used and disgraced and hurt by them until Pride began to hate them himself. _

The way he'd been 'born', it hadn't surprised Wrath at all that Father would have allowed such things to befall his 'children', even someone like Pride.

_Father changed him, awakening those nascent shadows and teaching him how to kill with his newfound hate and bloodlust, and Pride did so, believing it would make Father happy, even make Father love him. He doesn't need anyone else's love, he says, so he began to hate us too, because we took Father away from him._

Wrath was perhaps more surprised that Pride's shadows had not been functioning impeccably from the moment he had been born, with how adept he was at using them. Pride's old personality seemed rather useless for what Father would have wanted, and he'd said that perhaps Father had done such things to help Pride become a true homunculus finally.

_What do you mean 'did he become a homunculus after that'? He always was one, just not…there yet, because he was made different. What Father did didn't make him a 'real' homunculus, just a monster, worse than of us could have become because he was born pure and then corrupted. _

Of course, her unloading all of her grievances about how Pride was raised and how he would never be like that again onto him was probably not the best of ideas even at the time. What was he to do with the knowledge of Pride's once innocent nature that may have not been true? That didn't help at all on how to treat him now, was he supposed to take the information to heart and remember that whatever kind part of Pride had been eliminated centuries ago, even though she had sworn him to secrecy?

_Just respect him, Wrath, and let him have his way, because he's only a lost little foal looking for a warm stable in the middle of a glue factory. You don't want him hating you too. Even after _what happened_, he's the closest to Father out of all of us, and he'll help you, even if it doesn't seem like it, to keep Father happy, so that one day, Father might come to love him. That's all he ever wanted. _

What she'd said next was as encouraging as it was disarming.

_You make a go of it, and make a family for yourself, Wrath. None of us can have that so you go and get it because you can, because you _want _one, not because you have to._

For his loyal, devoted older sister to outright tell him that it was ok to defy Father's wishes for him to marry one of his suitresses, that he _should_ rebel against the path Father had set out for him. She seemed to realise what she was saying, but only casually changed the subject, as if she'd long passed caring, given what she'd said about Greed leaving.

_He'll be wondering where you've gotten to, so let's get onto this womanly advice about your new lady before he comes looking for you._

Perhaps it was because of her advice to him about Pride that Wrath tried to immerse him in their charade once he had decided to come living with them, create an atmosphere where Father was unimportant, where Lenore could love him wholeheartedly like he was her own child and not a sadistic monster. She should be spared such knowledge. Wrath wasn't adept at distinguishing what was part of Pride's act and what were fragments of his true personality slipping through and absorbing all the affection he'd been starved of throughout his life. He might have been doing it on purpose, stealing her away from him to try and ruin their bond, like he disapproved of him loving her, like that would stop him. Part of Wrath, for all his contradictory dislike for Pride taking her away from him even though it was he who had encouraged it, might have wished that it wasn't only acting, that Pride would see how much Lenore loved him and how much Father had neglected him, perhaps…enough for him to actually consider… But that was only foolish wishful thinking. Pride would never even think about abandoning the Plan for the life of a single human, even if it was _her. _He dismissed the thought entirely.

Besides, there were much more pressing matters to attend to at the moment, namely Lust's atrocious method of eliminating the humans that had infiltrated Father's lair under the third laboratory. What was she thinking, trying to kill both the Flame alchemist and Fullmetal's younger brother, who had just proved himself to be a confirmed sacrifice? Wrath observed it, considering whether or not to take action. His act as Fuhrer was imperative to keeping a close eye on the Elrics, and Mustang and his underlings as well, if he revealed himself he would need to kill them all, which would leave them with only four sacrifices remaining – Fullmetal himself, but would he remain in the military with no brother as motivation, Fullmetal's alchemy teacher, Dr. Marcoh and Hohenheim. Moreover, would he then be blamed for disposing of the _precious_ sacrifices? Alternatively, to save face he could assist Mustang in dealing with Lust, the possibility of her surviving the Flame alchemist's onslaught were minimal, which would allow him to get closer to them. Still, while he stood idly by and did nothing as Lust's shrieks continued to permeate the air he couldn't help but wonder _why,_ what reason did she have for being completely willing to kill two sacrifices in one evening? While they may have known too much surely their status negated that fact. Was this her falling victim to her own sin, being so that she had forgotten what was appropriate? Or…perhaps…was this her way of rebelling against Father, to sabotage his plan? To allow the humans to defy them and survive, to meddle with their centuries of planning? Wrath didn't truly understand it, whether it was just Lust underestimating the humans like Pride did, or doing what Pride would never do and spiting Father he wouldn't have thought it something she would risk dying for.

After a final burst of fire and smoke, Lust had shot her spear-like fingernail as close to Mustang as physically possible without her having stuck, but she began to fade, crumbling into fine black dust, but, as she toppled backwards and dissolved it looked like she was almost…smiling. How quaint, for her to retain her pride in being a homunculus to the end, and to be content in admitting the strength and tenacity of humans. Thinking it pointless to reveal his presence, Wrath made note to keep a close eye Mustang, and slipped away further into the darkened corridor.

He would discuss the newly arisen issue with Pride later.

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One more chapter down, two to go ;_; only a few weeks until this fic is over forever. But I'll still be around, in fact I'm writing a collab with Moofy-Fan so expect the first chapter to be up in the New Year ^_^ Can't get rid of me that easily.


	59. Lost things

A/N: Penultimate chapter here we are ;_; bawww, I don't want it to end…

Now, before I forget, I want to have a little appendix in my ending a/n next chapter where I can discuss my overarching themes and stuff like that. So if any of you have any questions or stuff you're wondering about that you'd like me to put in that just put it in a review or pm me ^_^

Well, let's see how Pride will deal with Lust's death ^^

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Fifty-Nine: Lost things**

When Pride was bundled up in a dreamless sleep he might have been at his happiest, with no memories to haunt him. Though, dreamless might have not been the correct term for his current situation. In that hour or so before he slipped into a deeper, all together emptier sleep there was something else, a gentle swirling of colour under his eyelids. Tonight, in that wavering, peaceful state the colour that bubbled up in his mind was a dark Amestrian blue, darker than military uniforms, rather like a clear sky at midnight. It flowed up and down in constant misty, fading streams, intertwining in the growing darkness rather beautifully. He must have been falling into that deeper sleep now, the soft patterns dispersing into black, and then—

Something tugged him awake instead. Something shaking his shoulders roughly before letting him flop back down into his mattress. Pride blinked himself more awake, squinting up at the silhouette as it stepped away from him.

"**Wr…Wrath?"** The figure nodded, still keeping a respectful distance. Seeing what an unbecoming position he was in and wearily glancing around Pride pushed himself up, sitting straight and dignified even if he was in his pyjamas. **"What is it?" **Whatever reason Wrath had for waking him and risking worrying Mother, it must have been important and justified, so Pride could accept it. In the dark Pride couldn't make anything out clearly, but saw Wrath still standing there, and waited for him to speak. He had strode backwards after so rudely waking him, was he being cautious because of that? It didn't matter, as long as he relayed the news promptly and efficiently he could ignore the unorthodox method of getting his attention.

"The situation beneath the Third laboratory has been resolved. Fullmetal's younger brother has proven himself to be a confirmed Sacrifice, and Father believes that Mustang will be a suitable potential Sacrifice with some persuasion when the time comes." Even though, with Izumi Curtis, the newly rediscovered and now detained Dr. Marcoh and the eventual Jude they had more than enough potential sacrifices for Father, it was far better to have them to excess. That was that the whole State alchemist system was for, after all.

"**I see. Father will be most pleased that we have more potential sacrifices for the Promised Day." **It was too late at night for him to try and form any expression, it didn't matter if Wrath could see it or not, he would understand. Still, there was something; Wrath wasn't leaving, like he had something more to say. **"Is there something else you wished to inform me of, Wrath?" **Compared to the previous news of discovering two sacrifices in one night it was probably something terribly trivial and unimportant that Wrath felt the need to tell him and had no place being said at all, but it would only take a moment.

"Mustang infiltrated the laboratory with the others, and Lust attempted to deal with him herself. However, she was unsuccessful, and…" There probably wasn't a real pause, only one that Pride imagined "He killed her, Pride." Killed, _killed?_ What was that supposed to mean? He already knew it, what it meant but he didn't want to believe it, wanted to know how and why and why was that a _lesser _concern? At the same time there was nothing more Wrath needed to say, he didn't want him to elaborate any more. There was no need for Wrath to continue being here; he had said what he wanted to say so now he could go. Yes, yes, he needed to leave, right now. Pride's container sat straight and calm, mouth not even twitching at the new information, like he hadn't even begun to process it, or simply wasn't fazed by it in the least. There was no need for him to react in Wrath's presence.

"**Thank you for informing me of this, Wrath." **Calm, restrained. No emotion needed.** "You may leave now." **Why should there have been any emotions in his tone? Without attempting to make anything out in the darkness Pride waited for him to leave, catching the sliver of light pour in for a second before the door closed again. There, now he was gone. Waking him up for such…well, it was important news, and justified enough in its relevance to Father and his Plan, but at least he was alone once again. Alone felt…better, somehow. For now.

With two jittery movements in his arms Pride lay back down, leaving his cover over his waist, staring blankly ahead, unable to pull it higher, thoughts too clouded to take notice.

It was…strange and unbelievable even now. A simple, lowly _human_ alchemist, capable of killing one of them, a creation of Father's superior to humans in every possible aspect? How could he have…? Surely it must have been a very arduous experience, with his pitiful, vulgar alchemy trying to exhaust the souls in Lust's stone.

…What did he specialise in again? What alchemy?

"**Fire…" **Oh yes, Pride remembered fire. Those fickle flickering flames that could burn his shadows away, that he used to fear more than anything else. But then they could be warm too, and help his shadows to form to protect him, sometimes they could even help comfort him when he was so terribly alone. When he was afraid…who had…? It was Lust, wasn't it…who had taught him not to be afraid of it anymore.

_Look, Pride, this is just a small light, look how much bigger you are than it. What harm can it do you?_

But even a tiny ember burned him once upon a time, a complete conflagration everywhere must be…excruciating, and for so long too. How much must she have suffered, the heat of it searing the flesh from her bones, only for it to be regenerated, relentless flames peeling her skin away, her pure, beautifully pale skin and tainting it a scorched, raw black? Yes he still knew what she looks like, what she _looked _like, even though it should have been none of his concern, what was done was done. Moreover, she had brought it upon herself, so why should he think anything of it? She had taught him not to be afraid, and yet it seemed there was a true reason to fear fire, but Pride couldn't force the laugh at her hypocrisy that _needed_ to come out. Something came out, but it was only a pitiful hiccup of a sob, and Pride stifled it the moment it reached his ears, biting his tongue and screwing his eyes shut while his throat closed up horribly. What was that? No, it wasn't anything. He didn't care, why should he care…? At the sound the tears welled in thick globs and scalded down his face in streaks. Perhaps the water burned him now the same way she had burned.

The harder he tried to quash and deny the disgraceful emotions pooling heavily in his head, the more a sharp, desperate pain pulsed at the centre of it, spreading out, flowing like poison into every inch of his container, stabbing under his skin like a thousand needles in every pore. Why? Why did it hurt so much? He had grown so that he didn't need her anymore, so that he didn't need to even see her again. Well, now he never would again, he'd gotten what he wanted. Why wasn't he happy, or if not that, stoically, clinically making a note of it that their numbers had been reduced to six because of the human's impudence?

_Oh Pride, I was only talking about humans, homunculi cannot die so easily._

How could she have been so foolish?Why did she have to suffer so much? Unable to move, Pride shuddered, a shiver shooting up and down his container in time with his quick, uncontrollable sobs and pants, and he could feel a tugging in his throat where he was silently keening. He couldn't breathe, staring glassily ahead while something was wailing, quiet and echoing and deafening all at once. Why wouldn't it be quiet, whatever it was?

Those wretched, horrible memories of when he was weak and useless flooded through his mind. Quick flashes, how every action was to please Father, Father and maybe Lust too, how he wanted to learn and grow so he could stop relying on her. Would she laugh and coo in his ear when she saw how grown up he had become? But no, he had lost sight of it, his fleeting dream. Pride didn't want her to love him when he was so much older, better than her. He had spurned her, and for what? He didn't know, he couldn't remember why. It didn't seem so important anymore. He buried his head in his pillows, roughly wiping the tears away in them.

**"Stop crying, stop, stop it!" **Why did he have to remember, why couldn't he just forget? He'd been trying to forget for two hundred years but it was no use! It needed to stop, Mother would hear how much shameful noise he was making, so degrading and below him but despite his best efforts he couldn't stifle his weeping or the mournful shrieks inside him. What was the last thing? Would that help, could their last moment together hope to comfort him somehow? The memory dragged itself forward regardless. That young night in winter, outside, beneath the peristyle, when they were pretending to be close again…

_Goodbye, Pride_

_Goodbye, Lust_

Oh, of course it was, of course, of course all he did was dismiss their relationship in the last words he had ever spoken to her, and her to him. Why had they been so stubborn? Why why _why_?! It wasn't right. How dare she leave him all alone, how dare she be so weak and die. Shameful, shameful, to be killed by a _human_! She had promised to always be there for him! The pain washed over him in until it was unbearable, and he writhed about, curling as tight as he could so no one could see how disgracefully he was behaving, forcing the heels of his hands into his eyes to stop himself crying, holding the breath that he could barely catch at all so he couldn't make a sound.

Completely silent now, Pride stopped denying it, sinking deep into his mattress, the pain in his eyes going unnoticed in the wake of the ever building pressure in his container, threatening the burst with every second. He just stared forward, listening to the unfamiliar bleats resounding in the room, feeling the warmth streaming across his face while the rest of him trembled and quaked from the unending grief building in whatever counted as a heart within him. There was a low, wet pop somewhere in his head, and everything washed away into a dark blur, the whines falling into silence. She'd always had her ways of lulling him to sleep.

_Good night, Big Brother._

It had been…far too long since he had heard that. Another little sobbing gasp at the thought. Why had she cared so much? It didn't matter now, all what mattered was how much he had cared all along, and the mournful wish that she had known that too. Purer, deeper darkness began to frame his bleary vision, a distraught frown carving lines in his face, eyes still streaming, shivering weakly as he was suffocated beneath a blue haze of death, sorrow and true, undiluted despair.

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**October 1st 1914**

This time when Wrath tried to wake him he only stood at the doorway, watching him. Pride knew he was there, even with his eyes closed, and he was sure Wrath knew he was already awake as well, though just barely. Sometime during the night he must have coiled up in his covers, their cool outside never permeating through to the inside, and he pushed into his warm cotton cocoon. There was something- oh, his thumb, what was that doing in his mouth? A dopey attempt of a scowl formed as a tiny crease in his brow as he pulled his hand away, pushing it back under his pillow and holding it close to his cheek. He needed to sleep, why had he even woken up again…?

"Selim, it's time to wake up." Oh, that. The words drifted along, Wrath blending into his act to an acceptable level, though why he had chosen to wake him instead of Mother…did he _know_? No, no one knew, no one could know. He didn't feel like trying to reply, shuffling deeper under the quilt and rolling over, settling into a more comfortable position.

The thoughts twisted about irritably, the headache had subsided, but left him exhausted, with little motivation to do anything other than lie down and watch as each trivial idea of the past floated up into his psyche to make him remember them. It wasn't laziness. He was quite…not _happy_ here, happy wasn't the right term for what emotion was simmering under his skin as he barely moved, but Pride doubted there would ever be a speck of happiness left until the Promised day. Maybe then Father would even bring Lust back. Some part of him clung to that wish so tightly its whole existence felt like it could fall apart if it wasn't the truth. It was ever so fragile that way. That part, the childish, infantile, weak part, kept itself curled close against the darkest corner of his mind where it could leave him well enough alone and continue hiding, shivered around the hope, Pride imagined, it sparkling in its overgrown sleeved grasp, pure and clear and looking suspiciously like _round glass._ How apt, for his erstwhile home—prison—everything in between, to represent his futile longing, the dim glow of his foolish Lust in its tiny grasp. Where had it gone -he wondered- after he had destroyed it? Though he doubted that he would ever discover what became of it, this imagined representation of it, and so much more, was not a hope Pride desired to shatter, for the time being.

"Selim, didn't you hear me?" Pride hadn't the time to deal with Wrath.

"I'm ill, Father. I must have got sick." He spoke in a slow, downtrodden drawl, not even turning his head towards him. "I can't go to lessons; I can't get out of bed today. I'm not well, Father." His voice had the underlying hint of a croak, though imbued with sadness rather than any ailment. It wasn't completely a lie though, there was no suitable explanation for his constant yawning, and the temptation to return to sleep even though he had been doing so for over twelve hours and had only been awake for ten minutes. Such a need to rest was below him and as such there was something amiss. Either way he had no desire to even attempt at being tutored today, he didn't think he'd be capable anyway. The shame at even admitting such a weakness should have disgusted him to no end, but he didn't dwell on it for even a second, disgusting him even more. Wrath was still at the door, he was probably going to say something impudent, just to be awkward and not do what was best and listen to him. Even then he might have been being coy, and in his supposed illness he would jest in topics that had no place being mentioned, never mind joked about. Oh yes, Wrath was probably impudent enough to try and bring such things up again…

All he could do was wait to lethargically put Wrath in his place when he tried to subvert him. Wrath would have no concept of an explanation to what was wrong with him (nor did Pride want him to), so surely he could believe him like a respectful sibling and leave him be.

"I thought you would be more resilient to such illness, Selim. Your Mother might worry about you if she finds out." Mother would undoubtedly find out, and she would worry terribly. Pride might have not wanted her to worry but that was simply her nature and a necessary price for his 'illness'. Perhaps Wrath would suggest that they call the Doct—no, _no. _Wrath wasn't so insolent or cruel… not for something like that. Pride hid his face under his cover with a sickly, tired groan. This wouldn't last for too long; he would recover before too long, he didn't need anyone else to determine what was wrong with him. "However, I'm sure you will get better soon enough, so I will leave you to rest for today." Pride heard him leave without another word on the matter. Mother would still worry, but at least Wrath could assure her that he wasn't _that_ ill. Still, exhausted or not, he couldn't just continue moping around here, he needed to rest but that wouldn't help achieve anything. He had his obligations to Father to fulfill, and in light of the additional sacrifices, among the _other thing_, he would be expecting him to visit in case any aspect of their Plans had been disrupted by last night's events. Leaving his container to 'sleep' while he was unwell gave him plenty of time. Softly closing his eyes, Pride willed his shadows out through his feet.

…nothing. They all remained firmly inside his container; he could feel them compressed in his feet but not a drop of them outside, as if something was preventing them. A weak flash of indignation crossed his face, and he shook his legs as if to dislodge them.

"**Come out." **The shadows shifted about, rearranging themselves, laying over each other in differentiated liquid pools across his container, but otherwise settled in drowsy, listless heaps. A small tremor was running across them, rippling their surfaces while their winding rolls of teeth clattered quietly, like they too, were deep in thought, his inner sorrow bleeding into them as it had his container. They were too sluggish to even manipulate his human voice anymore it seemed; he wasn't sure which voice he wanted to use, and he could only move his container a few inches in any direction without forcing himself. **"What's wrong? Why wont you-?" **They only continued shivering in response, even when he tried to keep them still and calm only the rest of his container began shuddering instead. Whatever was causing him to be so tired was affecting his shadows as well. Some tiny speck of him might have been grateful that they were adamant to remain within his container, Pride wasn't sure it would be appropriate to meet with Father with how disgracefully he was behaving. Father would be so disappointed in him if he saw him like this.

Pale clear light filtered in through his window, brushing against his bed with its weak autumn warmth. Oh, windows, sheets of glass and observing what lay beyond them, that was far too familiar, vivid and fresh despite being centuries ago. Blinking slowly as he leant on his pillow he remembered what it was like, staring out through the curved glass, so small, helpless, isolated and alone with nothing to do but yearn to help Father in any way he could. Father had created him, and after a while didn't want him to be lonely, and he'd asked his advice, Father had asked _him_ what homunculus he should make next. Father had trusted him with such a thing, and the result of that, well, that was Lust, what _he_ had chosen! He had been the one, the original homunculus, the first of Father's children that had prompted the creation of all the rest, starting with her! He remembered her coy, gleaming smile, wide through the glass, her eyes shining as she fussed over him, born as an adult but still youthful, happy and ever so _alive_, and he'd only began to appreciate that now. Pride could still see the way her silken, obsidian tresses would bounce gently over her shoulders as she held him and gleefully explored Father's room, holding him close to her, keeping him safe. Through her hands often the warmth of her would bleed into the glass, and those where the times where he didn't feel so alone anymore. What happened to those times, where had it gone so wrong? It was still almost impossible for him to believe that she was gone now. Something heavy but thankfully dry weighed in his bottom eyelids at the thought, and he huddled into a ball again, blocking out the light with his arms crossed over his face. The shadows still churned anxiously, thinning out and expanding as if they were sighing, constantly moving but not enough to be of any use, distressed to the point that they'd worn themselves out.

Pride let out his own bored sigh, if there was nothing more for him to do but stare while his memories bubbled up and wispily formed in his mind's eye perhaps he would make better use of his time going back to sleep. Or maybe then his dreams would be even more lucid than the onslaught of his memories, where he would relive them rather than merely reflect upon them.

In his state, despite how exhausted he was, Pride didn't think he would be able to bear the latter. For now, just…resting would do, he just needed…to keep himself distracted, then everything would be fine.

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More noise, noise trying to wake him up again. But when had he fallen asleep? If he fell asleep she would continue haunting him, surely he had decided upon avoiding sleep no matter how tired his grief was making him. Pride couldn't remember any of his previous dreams from when he had been sleeping a moment ago, maybe she had left him alone. Still, what was that sound, the creaking of his bedroom door? Was it Wrath who had changed his mind about obliging him? Or the butler checking irritatingly on him? Cringing, Pride made sure his shadows were pressed flat and secure against his vocal cords before he dared speaking.

"Go away…" The sound muffled through his pillow.

"Selim," A barely audible whisper from behind him. "are you awake?" Slowly waking again Pride turned towards the sound, trying to focus on the blurry object in the doorway.

"Oh…Hello, Mother." An embarrassed blush heated his already pink cheeks at having spoken in such a way for Mother. She didn't seem to hear, but stepped back with a tiny gasp, covering her mouth.

"Oh dear did I wake you up? I'm sorry. Your father said you were sick and I wanted to make sure you were ok here by yourself…" A glance at the clock, he'd overslept by half an hour. Was that all? He was surprised it had taken her so long to check on him. But it was still unbecoming, even if they believed him to be unwell.

"I…I' m sorry for not waking up when I should have, Mother."

"Don't be silly, Selim, you can't help it if you're ill. You don't have to do any lessons until you're well again, and if you want you can come and lie on the couch with me for a while." Pride thought about it, though he wanted nothing more than to sleep he felt as though his time would have been better spent with her than in bed.

"I would like that Mother." She unhooked his dressing gown, and began to walk over so she could probably check his temperature.

"You poor dear, you have a terrible fever. No wonder you aren't feeling well." He nodded glumly, feeling at his forehead. She helped him up with a forced, nervous sort of smile, leaving his nightgown on his bed because he was too warm to need it. Clinging to her arm and barely able to walk properly, she led him upstairs with uneasy steps towards the tearoom.

When he had collapsed into the couch Mother stepped out to get him a drink, returning a few moments with a glass of milk. Pride remembered when he got sick the first time, the only time in his life, Lust had given him warm milk to try and calm his stomach. It hadn't work and had made him worse, but she would have never done it intentionally. She had always tried to take care of him to the best of her ability, especially when he wasn't feeling well. He wasn't ill really now, so having milk was fine, and it being cool helped ease his fever the tiniest bit. Pride sipped at it with a quiet smile, and set it down on the table. Beside it was an envelope, strange, Wrath usually sorted out his letters in his office, or before Pride woke up, so why… but it wasn't addressed to Wrath. If he squinted he could see, in slightly messy but adequately curled letter- _Selim_.

"Is that a letter for me, Mother?" His voice was hoarse and tired.

"Oh, yes. It arrived this morning. I think it is from your friend." Friend, what friend did he have? As the Fuhrer's child he was aloof and unreachable as he should have been. She passed the envelope to him, and after struggling weakly with opening it, he pulled out the folded paper and began to read.

_Hello Selim,_

_sorry for not writing much, I didn't mean to wait so long, really! Stuff has been really busy for me, and I'm sure for you too, you're the Fuhrer's son after all. How're you, you should write back to me and tell me I bet you've had lots of fun since I saw you last._

_I wish I could say that I'm looking forward to seeing that play in December with you, I actually was. It's just that Jude is very poorly, Mother is really worried. We've had lots of doctors visiting him but they don't know what's wrong so they can't fix him. Selim, what if he dies? He's been with our family for so long that she can't imagine him not being around anymore. Sorry for being such a burden, I guess I shouldn't talk to you about those kinda things eh? _

Oh, how unfortunate, Father only desired healthy human sacrifices; there was no use in detaining one that might not even survive the winter, especially with the issues that taking their servant away from their estate suddenly would cause, since it seemed Rosalie's mother wouldn't want him travelling in such a state. Well, no matter, they still had the necessary five sacrifices. Everything could still function perfectly without the possibility of Jude. Making a note to inform Father once he was well again Pride pushed the thought away and continued reading.

_Still, if he gets any better I'd love to actually watch 'Peter Pan' with you, I know it would have been fun, things are just more important right now. My Mother doesn't want to travel anywhere so she can take care of him, she's so nice. The butler says he could take me to visit you, but if you don't reply to me then I'll know that you're too busy too and I won't come. If I visit though, I'll bring you the bestest present ever—again! I hope you're taking good care of that raccoon teddy, because this time I'm bringing you a nice black cat! I just know you'll like it. _

Why was she always so willing to give him gifts, what did she have to gain from such childish gestures? What did she want from him?

_If you want I'm sure you could visit us once Jude's better, we've got lots of spare rooms you and your Mother can stay in, but not in R-_The word was scribbled out beyond the first letter. -_ the upstairs room because no one but Mother and me are allowed in there, but don't worry I'll remind you if you ever do visit to stay away from it._

_Well, it was nice meeting you the first time again. I hope we can see each other sometime soon once things get better, if not in December, then maybe for your birthday again instead. See you soon hopefully._

_From Rosalie_

Before her name there was another blot of ink where she'd covered something up, it might have been an 'A' but he couldn't be sure. How could she make a mistake writing her _own name?_ What an odd child she was. If she hadn't been living off her late Father's earnings and the revenue of the _Lupton's Play_ Pride had no doubt such an irrational little thing would have driven herself into poverty by now, and he had serious doubts about how she would be capable of sustaining herself once she had become an adult. The worst possible degrading thing he could concoct was that, one day, when she was nothing but a flighty human under the trappings of status and wealth, she would come crawling to _him_ to beg for money when she squandered it all. But why was he even thinking of such things? The Promised Day would arrive in but a few months and she would perish like the human she was long before she had any such responsibilities. There was no need to reply to her at all, she was of no importance now without her Human sacrifice for Father to use. She didn't deserve the kindness anyway, he had written letters to _someone else _before, and all she ever did was ignore him thereafter, never writing again, so he would ignore her first this time. As if she would even care enough to notice. Mother patted at his head as she saw him folding the letter back up.

"What did Rosalie write about, dear?"

"Rosalie says Jude is ill too, so she might not be visiting again." After digging through her babble it seemed as if that one thing was all the information salvageable and of any relevance. "So we won't be able to watch Peter Pan after all."

"Oh, Peter Pan? Isn't that the book we got from the library a few weeks ago?" She was right. In their outing after being measured he had immersed himself in the peace and quiet of Central's library (that distracted librarian nowhere to be found, maybe she had been laid off in her incompetence). He had been enjoying himself for the most part when Wrath had surprised them by showing up, and had produced the gaudy green book with its gold leaf patterns for him to read. Wrath's impudent intentions were clear enough from the moment Pride had started reading, his mischievous wish to toy with him by showing him what he considered to be a crass parody of him, when nothing could be further from the truth. They were nothing alike, and he covered his tracks much too well for a simple children's author to have discovered him. Despite his disgust at the excuse for literature there had been a gnawing at him, a desire to continue reading, and he had relented, borrowing the book. It wasn't overdue yet, but why hadn't they returned it? Oh, Mother had been concerned, after the library's First Branch had been burned down that night she feared the same might befall the main library. Lust had burned the branch down to destroy Doctor Marcoh's research notes on the production of Philosopher's Stones...not even a month ago and now she was… "Well, why don't we read it together? I was thinking about letting you read '_The Coral Island_' since it was one I read as a child, but I think that would be a wonderful choice too, especially to cheer you up." She left him for a moment on the couch to dig it out from the bookshelf. In actuality it seemed that the true title for the book rather than the play was _'Peter and Wendy'_, but it was a technicality that Pride didn't wish to correct Mother on. 'Wendy' was a weird enough name as it was; Mother said that it was a new, made up name that came from Gwendolyn.

Sitting back down she began to read from the place he had stopped during his time in the library, and admitted to have read up to that part as well in the hope that some time they would read it together, as they did now. Anything to make her happy.

The tale had continued in its whimsical way, with its tribe of _nice _Ishvalans and Aerugan pirates, and now the Darlings had realised how much their parents would be missing them and wished to return home. The boy had decided to sulk and sleep while they left, immature creature he was. Why hadn't he anticipated such a thing, being who he was? He, who was very willing to kill his own comrades, and did so anyway when they broke the 'rules' by growing up? For what reason had he to want them to remain with him? That kind of boy that never grew up, who could only watch others wither and die while he remained the same, for all children grew up _except one._ Perhaps the human _had_ taken the concept from-No, it was ridiculous to think that there was any- they weren't the same, he had grown up really, it was only his container that was constant, inside he had never completely been a child, and before his container he had endured through nearly a century inside that cramped, cold little sphere. Pride was not selfish like that boy with the dowdy, draping excuse of a human's shadow inferior to his own that could be torn by a _dog _of all things, all fabricated coincidental, not an ounce of it based on truth, reattached with a _sewing needle_. Besides, what kind of Peter kills their Wendy (and what was _that_ supposed the mean? How strange a thought, he cast it aside). He was far too careful for any human to have discovered him, his memory was flawless, not like him, who would rather forget everything to preserve his egotistical ideal that allowed him to be reckless and carefree and heartless. It wasn't worth his time thinking about anymore.

"Oh no, Tinker Bell drank the poison instead. I hope she's ok."

Tinker bell had loved him so much that she had died protecting him, and for him to beg, _beg_ for others to believe in fairies to save her in return (Mother rejoiced in the wonderful efforts to restore her, already fond of the irrational but good natured fairy). Lust had given her life for him too, that winter where he had dragged the stars to earth with his petty curiosity, only for it to be snow. She had frozen to death because of him, because _he _had fallen asleep and she hadn't wanted to disturb him. How he had despaired when he woke, trying in vain to wake her, hysterically wandering off to get help only to faint in the snow himself. That was what made him sick in the first place, staying out all night on that blustery hill…

_Every time a child says, `I don't believe in fairies,' there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead. _But fairies were such short lived creatures, surely, so the gesture was pointless, and she was naught but a fairy meant to repair pots…

Lust had repaired his flask for him too…once, only for him to break it again.

It was all nonsense of course, human drivel meant for children who their parents would rather let be shielded from death than taught the truth. Not with Mother though, right? He had suffered through death before, he understood it already. What child could believe is such wretched optimism? Simple wishing would not bring the dead to life, not even alchemy could do such things… and no amount of clapping would bring Lust back.

Mother's soothing voice melted away while she continued reading, and Pride dozed, drowning in his memories of that time so long ago, when life was so much simpler, when nothing else apart of Father and Lust and him was important, with no other siblings to worry about. He was never anything but happy and they loved him so much…so much. He had never wanted for anything else. What a distant, wonderful life that had been… unreachable now, distant and impossible. Something he would never have again,

_I want it back. I want _her _back. Give her back to me._ Give her back!

It was no good. Wearily cracking an eye open, while the constant pleasant hum of Mother's reading floated over him, Pride reached out for his milk, taking an uncouth gulp. Without Lust, with only being able to wait for Father's dream to come to fruition what had he? What could he hope to do to ease this emptiness for the next few months? He was completely alone. He had nothing.

His mind stuttered, running out of memories to torture him with, but what were these trickles of water from his eyes while he lay with his head on her side nursing at his glass of milk, tears? No, don't be silly, he didn't cry. Homunculi couldn't cry. It was absurd to think that he was capable of such pathetic things. He must have damaged them while he was sleeping the night before, all the times in the past he had damaged his eyes he had developed a fever afterwards so that must have been it. His eyes were just…_leaking_ from what happened to them. The only time he would have been able to be perceived as crying was after doing such a thing, and he hardly ever needed to cry for Mother, he was a well behaved child in every way. The web of lies and self deceit wrapped around him enough that he almost believed it too, nodding into his milk, so self-assured again. It was all he could be.

"Selim you're crying, what's the matter? Are you hurt?" Mother scooped him higher, setting the book aside and lifting him up, her wrinkles deepening with her anxious frown. Pride shook his head, blinking out a few more droplets, looking so unsure, like he couldn't express what was wrong. She needn't know about what was truly wrong though, it wasn't something she would be able to fix.

"I just…my arms ache, a little, and I'm tired. But…I want to stay with you."

Lust was gone now, and he might have thought that he was alone…but no, there was still Mother. He had Mother who loved him, cared for him, even more than perhaps she cared for her own life.

"You're so considerate, Selim, if you wanted to stay in bed I wouldn't have minded. You have a nice rest." She moved further along the couch to let him stretch out, patting gently at his head and running her fingers through his messed up, uncombed hair. Any other time he would have been ashamed at anyone seeing him like this, but now, at Mother fawning over him until she was sure he was better, it didn't seem so important. It might have just been the fever affecting him in peculiar ways, but through the haze of his despair shone a pure contentment, he could feel it, the most delicate, and yet enduring of love and affection for this human he called Mother. He could never be alone again so long as he had her to love him too, with all her so human heart. His meek, dozy smile, the one he often formed around Lust so long ago, reappeared as the warmth of her love erased every other thought, and he drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

Even at his age, even after all that had happened, he did ever so dearly need a Mother.

0 * 0* 0 * 0 * 0

Hehehe, angst! But at least it's angst that Pride admits to ^^

I'd like to mention that next week on Sunday I will be posting the first chapter of my super secret three shot, so keep your eyes peeled ^^

I can't believe that next chapter will be the last one, after two and a half years ;_; I'm kinda sad that it'll be over in two weeks.

Ok I'm gonna get even more melodramatic if I carry on so I'll just stop talking now. See you all in two weeks.


	60. Daydream's End

A/N: Wow, after 941 days, or 2 years 6 months and 26 days, it's completed ^^ I cannot thank all you enough for sticking with me all this while, and it makes me so happy that all you guys liked it so much enough to put up with me for almost three years ^_^

It's been a ton of fun and I wish I can write something in the future that is even half as much of a blast to write ^^ This fic might have just started out as a chance to practice writing Pride's character, but I'm glad it evolved into something more, where I could dig deeper into his intricacies and try to explain them. I can't say how flattered I am when I hear that some people take some aspects of my headcanon and believe them as their own too ^_^

At the end of the chapter I'll have an appendix to talk about a few of my themes (and I've probably forgotten a few but never mind), but I'll just leave you to enjoy the last chapter now :)

Thanks to Muddywolf for reading through this chapter for me beforehand.

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**Sin's Child**

**Chapter Sixty: Daydream's End**

**November 5th 1914**

The ancient homunculus sat up in his chair, waking with the greatest of dignity from his slumber. He ran a hand through his faded, once golden hair, fake, but it felt real enough. What an unusual dream, it wasn't often that he dreamed. Could it be considered a dream if it was nothing but a memory? Reliving his creation, when he had deceived the nation of Xerxes and had bestowed Slave 23 with nigh-immortality, just as he had given him a name, a purpose outside of slave work, everything. Hohenheim was ever so ungrateful, but at least now he had provided him with two ample Human Sacrifices in the form of his sons, and himself now that he was in Amestris. Would he try to oppose him on the Promised Day? That would be a sight to see, a measly half a million souls stuffed into a human-shaped Philosopher's stone attempting to defy him once he became a God. Surely Hohenheim was not so foolish, though, if he was not foolish then he would not have come to Amestris at all.

Father raised his head, watching the figure step closer from the far corridor, coat swaying a tad as he went.

"Good afternoon, Greed. Has anyone visited?"

"Well, Envy's here right now. Keeps saying something about how he found lots of broken glass and a few corks in Lust's drawers but that's nothing important, he just keeps kicking up a fuss about her." Greed spoke it casually, detached; for all this Greed was concerned he had never known Lust so didn't understand why Envy would be interested in her now that she was dead. Her death had brought the Flame Alchemist to full light as far as his potential as a Sacrifice went, so it was not a complete waste of her life. "Pride came too, but he didn't wanna wake you up so he left. I think he'll be back later on though."

"Hm, Pride? I see. Please return to ensuring no intruders approach here, Greed." This Greed knew better than to repeat the treachery of the previous, even if he wasn't aware of them. Greed nodded, wandering back to the corridor he emerged from. He would need to tell Pride to meet with the Crimson Lotus Alchemist in the North as soon as possible to instruct him to create the final Crest of blood. Father leant back in his chair - not a slouch of course. Ah, Pride. His first creation. Since his birth he had changed, more so than the rest of his siblings. What was that, he had called himself, all those years ago once he learned how to read and write? 'The first homunculus', 'the original'? Not the homunculus that was such a success that it increased his enthusiasm to create the others. Pride might have believed such a thing. No, Pride was the opposite, a failure of a Truth that could never be anything but that. Weak and useless, taking over a quarter of a century before it learned how to speak even the simplest of words. He was forced to create his siblings through alternate means because he wasn't going to take such a risk ever again. At least his jealousy at Lust's intellect, superiority, her human shape and her freedom had driven him to finally acquire something for himself.

Even once he had slaughtered that human boy and forced himself into his corpse Pride had been no better, soft and gentle without a speck of pride inside himself, rather than embracing his vaguely learned concept of being better than humans. It made sense- that Truth would try to spite him by providing him with such a pathetic creation. Of course, it was not luck, or fate either, that had allowed Father to alter him, to fashion him into something more than the naïve wretch he once was, something useful. It had only taken a push, to find that spark of darkness within and nurture it, until it had grown and destroyed every part of Pride that had been so weak. Without him Pride wouldn't have developed any further than that constant, optimistic child who doted on his flask and couldn't do anything for himself. He wouldn't have survived that way.

He would never become the Truth he was intended to be, but he could be useful enough, he supposed, was loyal and devoted as any child should be for their parent.

Yes, Pride would serve him well until the Promised Day. And beyond that?

Probably not, without _him_ he would still be a nothing, why should he be treated any different from his other siblings?

0 * 0 * 0

Pride stretched out under his covers, murmuring something under his breath, slowly easing into a light sleep. His dreams drew closer to the present with every second, until the eventuality when it would come to _that_. His brow crinkled as the inevitable came, a barely noticeable trembling running along his container, voice dropping into its deep metallic whispers every so often, the memories flashing through his mind just as fiercely as ever, anything to make him remember, as if it wasn't only a few weeks before but yesterday, bright and vivid. But he was more mature now in his memories, he wouldn't debase himself, it was not the guilt of disappointing Father, of killing _her_, of Father justly punishing him, it was only losing Lust. Only a single, clear little tear crawled out from beneath his eyelid, the minute water droplet being absorbed into his pillow. Even that was too much. Pride only rolled over and whined quietly in his throat, enduring. It was all he could do.

Wrath, on the other hand, had returned to his office before the generals became too concerned over not being certain of his whereabouts for longer than a minute. Hawkeye had returned promptly from her afternoon break and at the moment was tipping the teapot an exact thirty five degree angle. She poured the brownish-black liquid through the strainer, and added the drop of milk almost as an afterthought, but a stoic, disciplined afterthought nonetheless. Signing a few documents his thought slowly began to drift to Lenore, and by extension to that Pride. He was probably awake now, the fever nothing but an irrelevancy, saying how much better he was feeling, but not too much, upstairs now, sitting on Lenore's lap and relishing in how he had worried her. How strange, that he would feign illness twice in less than six weeks, the first time, the day after Lust died, and now this. At least with Lust he had a good reason, a reason he might never admit but a reason all the same. Wrath had seen his siblings' response to the death of their sister, some with sorrow, or anger, and with Pride the misery and shame and the desperate attempts to hide that beneath his illness. Wrath might have not understood why they felt that way, having only love for Lenore, but the fact that Pride would go to such lengths to hide that fact piqued his interest.

This time there was no suitable reason for how peculiar he was behaving. Would he be embarrassed at his shameful, ever so _human_ behaviour while he had slept? Would he remember it at all? He had spoken Father's name, but almost in fear, and had _cried_. Father might have controlled him through awe and reverence but that wouldn't explain what had prompted it now. Regardless, it still would have no effect his devotion to the Plan, when the time came. Pride would think nothing of Lenore then. Wrath had seen that look, that twitching of a true, childish smile that Pride would sometimes form around her, before he realised what he was doing and his usual exaggerated façade would take its place. Lenore had threatened to break Pride's three centuries of preconceptions about humans, perhaps even enough to…if given enough time… but there wasn't enough time, was there? Perhaps, if he could still love Lust in complete secrecy, then maybe he might come to love Lenore that way as well, no; he already did, no matter how much he tried to deny that.

He sipped at his tea, thinking it over. His eldest brother was old, could two years, even with someone with such a pure love as her, be able to change him, even the tiniest bit? Could he love her, in the knowledge that he would bring about her death in less than six months' time? There must have been _something…_and there was definitely something.

It might never develop into anything more than an unspeakable remorse for what was to occur on the Promised Day, but for someone like Pride to feel even that, to feel anything even remotely negative towards Father's Plan. That was enough.

0 * 0 * 0

Pride wasn't sure how long he'd been 'awake', it had probably had only been a few seconds, but time didn't work so well in this place, so it felt like _much_ longer. It wasn't sensible to stay here for too long, he had much more important things to attend to, like _actually _waking up for one. The red hue of his soul glowed faintly beneath his imagined skin. Everything was rather imagined here, that was the only thing that could explain why he was his container here, when it was nothing but a container that was nothing like a true representation of himself. His shadows might have been real, if they could exist in his Stone, if only to keep him away from _them. _A thin layer of shadow supported him while he imagined he was lying bored on his stomach, growing over him as a cover as well because he hadn't the power to imagine himself some clothes, if thinking his soul existed in the shape of his container wasn't shameful enough.

Their shrieks and moans floated up through the void below, muffled through his shadow but still far too loud, they would become harder to ignore if he was asleep and _here_, whether this was real or not they sounded real enough, and that was all what was important now. He tried not to think about them, glancing up at swirling scarlet patterns high above him through the crack in his shadow. Ignoring them was the best thing he could hope to do while he was here.

Lower, much further down from the suspended ball of shadow _someone else_ was staring up at it, the fluffy red cloud that Pride had spoken to occasionally, though its voice had grown fainter each time. The possibility of them ever speaking again was barely worth thinking about.

Miles too, knew how to pretend, and how to make believe what he knew could only be that. That might have not excused why his soul chose to exist in the shape of his wretched self from two centuries ago, right down to his tattered dregs of clothes (but it was still Luna's dress and he couldn't say anything bad her clothes…), but maybe the truest part of him had formed at that time before his death. If he tried he might have been able to change it, but he couldn't see himself that well, so there would be no point in wasting the energy trying to change how he perceived his home in his intentionally delirious mind.

"You're awake now? It won't be long before you're awake properly then." The final shudders of Pride's previous misery that he had forced upon him subsided now that he was awake. It made sense, it had only been a month or so, it was still hard to accept that she was really gone and never coming back (and oh how even he hoped that Pride's Father could bring her back once he became a God), it had only a week since what would have been her birthday, and no doubt _he _had known all about it. If she came back, would Pride be able to become close to her again? It was all well and good that he regretted how he had treated her, but outside of his occasionally honest feelings how could he ever hope to be that way with anyone, especially someone like Lust? Maybe if all of his siblings died and Father somehow neglected to bring them back too, then he might be candid with her. Pride would only ever be happy if things went back to the way they were before. Miles found himself smiling at the thought, Pride's happiness was important as long as he was trapped here, and if Father's Plan succeeding is what brought the happiness then it was more important than anything else. They were only humans, after all.

Humans…he actually… called them _humans _now?

People, they were people, and no, no it wasn't worth it, how could it be? He wasn't supposed to think like that, they were humans just like he was! Why should they all have to die just to placate Pride, when Pride already had a simple enough happiness with his Mother? Human, he was a human…

There was no excuse for why he had even thought such a horrible thing. It wasn't the first time either; he knew it had become more than a bad habit. He wasn't like Pride, nothing like him, humans weren't simply a source of energy for his Father, and they could exist separate from that world, not like him. Maybe he didn't know how to live like a human anymore, or what it meant to really be human. He hadn't truly lived in three lifetimes (or twenty three, in his own decade of a life), but that wasn't a good reason, he hadn't transcended into anything better than a human by living here, if anything he was _less _than them. With a miserable whine he leant against 'sleeping' patch of _her, _feeling the way she reformed into something more real at the slightest touch.

"What's the matter, Miles? Did Pride do something terrible again?" Her wrinkles deepened with her frown, her gloved hand coming to rest on his head. She probably wasn't really like that, this was only the appearance he'd assigned to her less than lucid moments, the form she'd died in, that Pride hated most of all because it was the her that had abandoned him and then had the audacity to come back. If they had talked about what had kept her in Aerugo Miles didn't remember it, and after so long he had thought it better not to ask if she wasn't willing to tell him of her own accord.

"N-No, Sylvie. I'm fine, really." There was no need for her to be worrying about him in her state. In her most insane phases she would explain that calling her Sylvie was fine because he was 'the nice Pride'. Those days were the hardest.

"I can't hear those two fighting. Where are they?" Oh, she remembered those two, so she wasn't that far off from the present. They way he imagined the glassy haze in her eyes lessened a little, and for a moment he hoped that he was wrong… "I hope they haven't gone so soon, especially that new one, I wanted them to at least know that we're worried about them first…" His hope had never amounted to much.

"It's 1914, Sylvie, and Number 105 is gone now. Pride used him up this morning." She didn't even remember what he'd told her less than an hour ago.

"Oh…oh dear." A streak of vibrancy appeared in her hair, crown washing out and simplifying into a tiara. "Well, he is better off now, it is far better that he left this place. Number 22 must be lonely, the poor thing." Miles couldn't say he was sad Number 105 was gone. Now some of Pride's memories might not be so horrible, with the Doctor coming for his physical soon. The wretched creature, not even a human, what he'd done… some things might have been what had happened to Number 22 and 105 instead, but still…

Would he dare to call Pride '316' again? Or even worse '12' like the first time? Those were things he longed to forget, he wished he could forget things as easily as Sylvie could. What was he doing now, up in the North? He didn't want to know.

"You should talk to him, Miles."

"Who?" She gave him that glassy-eyed look like it was all too obvious who she was talking about.

"Number 22. I'm sure he's sorry for what he did." Oh, that, Number 22 certainly _wasn't _sorry. In his mistrusting mind Number 22 might have thought it was still completely justified, attacking him like that, accusing him of being Pride when he wasn't at all. They had kept out of each other's way for the most part since then, especially when Number 105 had joined them and they had taken to sparring together.

"Ok then, Sylvie. I'll try to talk to him later; Pride is going to wake up soon." A lighter ripple of a hue scattered across the void, and they huddled together in silence, both mustering something of a grim smile as they stared up at the shadow above, complete again rather than fractured with the signs of Pride's misery.

"Do you hate him, Miles? Pride, I mean. It makes sense that you would, he _killed _you, and stole your body for himself, and has been using it for all these years without even acknowledging you. You had your whole life left to live but he took that away." They had exhausted their topics for conversation a _long _time ago, in that respect perhaps it was better for her to not be in her right mind, so she could keep learning things and always have something to talk about. By now every answer to every question was rehearsed and precise and optimistic. She must never worry for him. He shook his head.

"He didn't mean to, he was trying to help me." If Miles had not been aware of Pride's memories he never would have believed such a thing. There'd been so much blood staining the cobbled floor as Pride's sharp little hands forced their way into every vein and artery inside him but he hadn't noticed a thing, that floating grin in the dark looming over him. "I might have not died if he hadn't found me, but I wouldn't have been able to live for so long either." He looked up, completely earnest. "I can't hate him if it was only an accident." What good would resenting Pride do anyway? There was nothing he could do either way so trying to defy him was pointless. She must have been trying to make him hate Pride, hate him for keeping them here. Then, he would comfort her. "You could leave, you know. Pride might have killed you so that you could never leave him again, but he isn't keeping you here like me. One day, maybe you too would…"

"And leave you here all alone? No, Miles, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I left here before you. I'll stay here with you until the end, Miles."

"Pr-Promise?" It was so incredibly childish of him, when he was older than her, but the word slipped out before he could stop it. She only laughed, like she was actually her old self again.

"I promise." Maybe he could never become completely corrupted as long as he was with her, even if it was only for her sake. Living here wasn't so bad when she wasn't completely lost. Miles might have only wanted Pride's happiness, but he wouldn't condone Father's plan. There must have been a better way, a life he could have with his Mother instead. Pride might have loved Father, but his Mother loved him far more than Father ever had, or ever could.

Hopefully Pride would realise that before it was too late.

0 * 0 * 0

As Pride continued his sound, occasionally unpleasant dream tinged sleep, elsewhere, in that deeper place encased in his container's skull that he preferred to ignore the very existence of, a skin coloured dot of a thing began to stir. With a bleat inaudible to anyone but itself it awoke with wide, toothless yawn. Its nose twitched curiously, breathing through it, something that was exclusive to this part of itself, its container could never do such a thing, for whatever strange reason.

Dark, it was nearly always dark here, but it was a warm sort of darkness (and even the air smelt rather warm, though it was never good with smells), and after so long it was quite used to it. Often the small speck of a creature would wake every morning in those moments before the stronger, more useful part of it could wake, despite the shadows' wish that it sleep. It was only ever for a few moments, to glance drowsily around and fall back to sleep once it was reassured that everything was fine. Not for a while, though, thirty-seven days even, not since the night Lust died. It was better to sleep and forget than dwell on her. What had woken it up? The Shadows always liked it when it slept, so why…? Those wide magenta drops bobbed out from the murky blackness, pupils wide and rounded, their six eyes shining warmly.

**_Hello, Little One. Did you have a nice sleep?_**

The words formed in its head, loud and forceful but softer whispers echoed along with it at the same time, drowning out the constant cries of _them_inside it. No matter how scary sometimes, when the shadows were angry with it, it was a wonderful voice all the same. The little one wished that it could have that kind of voice one day, but it knew _really_, that it already did, because they were—But it was better not to think that with the shadows here…

**_You're thirsty, aren't you?_**

They would only try to distract it, thinking it so simple-minded that it could lose focus at the very mention of being fed or given a drink filtered in from its container's stomach, but it would rather not sour how pleasant they were being with it, for now. Such was the game they played; they knew everything and helped it since it couldn't take care of itself, while it was selfish and stupid and a nothing, not even a 'he'. The tip of its tendril thinned out, and slithered its way closer, pushing into its mouth. The infant smiled and allowed itself a quiet giggle (it _could_speak, but there was no point in trying when the shadow knew everything it would ever wish to say) as a lukewarm splash of tea, nothing more than a teaspoon's worth but plenty for it, trickled out through the shadow and down its throat. Its violet, but perfectly human eyes gazed down at the shadows, so smooth and soft, that supported it even now, moulded around him so that it wouldn't fall. It remembered the tea, from when it had been 'dreaming' earlier. The eye thing wasn't the best idea, it had woke it up and nearly hurt it, and hurting it always made it have a fever later on, like all those other times. It barely took a fraction of a second before the little one decided upon never doing something so foolish again, even if it _was _so that it could convince itself for a moment that it couldn't cry…

While it continued to greedily guzzle down the drops of Mother's tea that would surely last it several days with a smile, however improper of it, the Stone shone out from beneath the thin flesh of its stomach, illuminating the extent of its home in a pale pink glow. The shadows receded a little in the light, fully in view. They pulled away, four eyes fading away, and it looked down upon it with a concerned shiver running along it. It was probably right; even it could feel the Stone, perfect though it was, large and bloated with souls and compressing the rest of its insides, almost too painful to move. Having only just woken it was in no state to produce more shadows to alleviate the stress, and it already had plenty within its container. As if sensing its distress (and how could they not?) the shadows merely embraced the minute creature, and it embraced them wholeheartedly in return, cooing nonsense and holding tight to it, digging in with pudgy fingers.

Somewhere deep inside itself it knew that it wasn't real, that it was only itself, a fragmented part of itself that curled into its cheek and huddled close, so starved of true affection that it preferred to pretend it was real rather than accept the truth. The shadows wanted it to be better, but to be better would mean admitting that they weren't good enough, the _he_wasn't good enough, and that was something neither one of them was willing to accept. At the thought the shadow only nuzzled closer, trying to force the thoughts away, teeth gleaming though it was shaking nervously, or maybe that too was only imagined. Its liquid pool rippled with an echo of a laugh, and its nonexistent jaw snapped open and shut, playfully patronising, better than it in every way once again.

**_You're so silly, Little One. Don't think like that. You're tired, go back to sleep._**

It was probably right, its shadow was ever so smart, it knew what Father wanted, and what was best for it all the time. They might not agree on some things, and sometimes it would hurt it because it did something wrong, but it must've cared for it or it wouldn't have been here at all. They could be so nice to it, if it behaved, when it thought only of Father but never of Mother, when it spoke of her they would always give it a true reason to cry. It might have still loved Father with every fibre of its existence but why couldn't it love both, if they loved it in return?

**_You should wake up; _****she ****_will be worried if you don't wake up soon, so go to sleep._**

Oh, what was this? Were they being honest for once, not even trying to deny it with a snap of their teeth or the hiss of a threat? Maybe they hadn't heard its thoughts at all, that time. Their spare tendrils inched their way closer, compressing into those small sharp hands exactly the same size as its own but rigid and flat, without any joints, a remnant of their first form all those years ago, back when its personality was a stable whole for the most part and it was of no use to anyone. The past that didn't bear being thought about and yet never being able to be completely forgotten. It was the only thing it had left to remember Lust, after all, and to forget her would be…

**_Go to sleep. _**

More forceful this time, less of a soothing suggestion, it had been awake for too long as it was. Despite their pointed tips they managed to stroke down its nose with the greatest of care, while the others enveloped it completely, protecting it in the only way they knew how. There wasn't much use in trying to resist, and the tiny helpless little thing decided to humour its shadows for a while, purely because it was choosing to sleep rather than listening to it, of course. It yawned and pushed happily into its tender enough caresses, then curled up in its shadowed cocoon and allowed itself to drift into sleep once more.

Waking up was nice, as long as it wasn't this kind of waking up.

0 * 0 * 0

"There, then it'll be all nice and ready for when he wakes up." She set the plate down on Selim's end table, in the place of the water she had put down for his fever earlier. His temperature had calmed down a great deal; he had even pulled his covers back on. Thank goodness. Still, she couldn't become complacent, he was still sick. Her 'special something', now on the table, would help his throat in case it was still sore when he woke up, she wasn't taking any chances.

Lenore fluffed up his hair with a smile, he looked so peaceful, nothing like had been earlier, so ill and upset. She never wanted to see him like that again. "Get well soon, dear." He needed his rest now, and with a final loving pet as she smoothed his hair back down and planted a kiss on his forehead and she stepped away.

Whatever tragedy had brought him into their lives, she was grateful they had been able to take him in. He had become such a large part of their lives, a part of the family from the moment he had settled in. It had been hard, given the circumstances, but he deserved to be doted on after what he'd been through. Sometimes she almost forgot that he wasn't hers, however selfish that was.

"Sleep well, Selim."

Rosalie's gift raccoon lay over his toy chest, the small green book that he'd yet to return to the library leaning against it. Light streamed in through the window and shone over his bed, warming it slightly even in the autumn. She would need to take him to the library again to take it back. Maybe they could start reading 'The Coral Island' soon as well. She just knew he would enjoy it. But that was beside the point for now, all what mattered was that she help him get better, even if that was leaving him be.

Mrs. Bradley closed the door as she left, leaving him to continue resting. As long as it took until he was well again. He was her son, after all.

Within Pride, his true form nestled in the shadows and fell into sleep, the dreams of its reality bleeding into it. The two wistful, marginally corrupted souls in his Stone huddled together and faded away. Not long now. Slowly, ever so slowly he eased awake, eyes fluttering open.

"Huh, Mother?" He spoke it muffled around his thumb- thumb? What was that doing there? No answer, if he had spoken it loud enough to hear in the first place. "Oh, no one's here…"Pride pulled his hand away, rubbing at his eye. "What was I dreaming about?" Pride tried to focus through his drowsy daze, but for the life of him he couldn't remember a thing, every memory that had plagued him for the last few hours gone. "Did I…even have any dreams?" He remembered…something, from when he was awake earlier, Father had been sleeping, and maybe he dreamed as Father did. Father—Father. He had to see Father, he would be awake by now and he had important things to discuss with him.

Pride pushed himself up; he needed to get dressed properly if he was going to see Father again. Father wouldn't accept anything less. But before he could throw his legs over the side of the bed his gaze latched onto the strange shape on his nightstand that hadn't been there when he'd fallen asleep. Pride almost gasped when his eyes focused, this was-_why would she?- _and he froze, trying to assess the new information, but he settled for _s_inking back into his mattress, forgetting everything else. Pride regarded it almost in awe, it hadn't been too long since the last one, but each one was as important as all the others. There was a glass of water beside it too, probably to help ease his sore throat (though it had never been sore, and his fever was gone now), but it was hardly important compared to _that_- to Mother's gift.

Its smooth, flawless green surface glittered in the light almost. Three neatly cut slices sat beside the uncut half, their segments equal and just the right size. Mother was so considerate, wasn't she? She had worried about him while he was sleeping, and had prepared a melon, just for him. Pride reached out, wearily picking at a chunk and pushing it between his lips. It was perfectly cold and exactly the same as all the melons that had come before. Sweet, delicious. Perfect.

A cheerful, childish, innocent smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, and Pride didn't try resisting it for a second.

Acting might have been easy, and effortless; it came to him almost naturally after two centuries of it. It was too simple, fawning over Edward Elric and spouting his optimistic ambitions whenever he could, being the son of the Fuhrer and nothing more than that. But it was those times where he needn't act, the times where he could believe his own lie for a few scant minutes and forget about everything else. Such times where so few and far between, when he could experience everything purely through his container's appearance and live the childhood he'd never had, treated like the child he'd never been.

Those were the best times.

0 * 0* 0 * 0 * 0

A/N: Aaaand we're done~! A rather fluffy, but bittersweet parallel to end on, but a necessary one, I feel. Anyway, on with my giant theme talk:

**Appendix**

**Pride's clothes theme: **Lots of people seemed to think that I spent too much focus on Pride's clothes, but after the theme started in chapter 16 I couldn't very well stop :( Well, anyway, the accessory on his clothes Pride wears reflect the sin colour of the homunculus that was made before the one in which the clothes are worn (e.g, he wears the golden cravat during Envy's lifetime, and gold is the colour of the sin of Greed). The method in which he acquires clothes also has repeating theme, in that they are made, bought, stolen, made, bought, and stolen. Also, though he gets his first red accessory clothes just after he leaves the facility, it can be seen that, as he skipped Gluttony there and only wore orange when he was trying to get Wrath a wife in his paper boy outfit, that it is his pale red tie as Selim that is the true 'red' accessory, and that it later develops into the deeper red of his homunculus clothes. Hence thereafter, on the Promised day, he wears no accessory around his neck with his waistcoat as there are no more homunculi.

**Pride's flask:** Pride's flask was a representation of Pride's innocence, with the three times it became broken, once accidentally, once begrudgingly and once intentionally, and each time whenever it tried to be repaired it came back worse (though when Lust asked Father to fix it, it was fixed perfectly, but Pride couldn't see that it was fixed and only saw it worse than ever), and so deliberately smashed it. Later on, after being destroyed it also somewhat comes to represent Lust, in that Pride reflects upon it in a similar way- Lust might have protected him and kept him safe, but also held him back and wouldn't let him mature.

**Pride and Lust's sins:** From observing Lust's arrogant attitude and Pride's bloodlust within the series I assumed that from them being the first two born they might have influenced each other on their sins. This presented itself in the fic in a more physical manner, as Pride's sadistic nature first begins to develop when Lust gave him her blood to drink, which obviously contained parts of her stone and so 'infected' him, if you will, with part of her sin. This also occurred when Lust was assigned to repair Pride's container when it could still bleed, and that one time where she killed Pride.

**Pride's fragmented personality**: From me studying psychology (though I don't really support or believe in Freud's theories the basic concept works well enough here) I decided to split up the three parts of Pride in my fic (the shadows, baby Pride, and Pride's soul/container) in the vein of Freud's three parts of personality- . Baby Pride was assigned the id, as it is the only part that people are born with, and is only concerned with its own needs such as being fed or wanting affection. The shadows take the part of the superego, as they contain Father's morals and values, and is the last to develop. Pride's superego is especially harsh, causing Pride's insecurities and secret fear of not being good enough, and often clashes with baby Pride because baby Pride's dismissal of Father's wishes, and being so harsh often manages to suppress it. The ego is Pride's soul, as that is the one that takes reality into account before acting, and that acts to mediate both the id and the superego. Often the ego becomes anxious at the dilemma of trying to please the other two parts of the personality, making it rely on using defense mechanisms to alleviate the anxiety. Pride himself often uses defense mechanisms such as rationalization to justify his actions. Now, all three of them exist as the same person, and they work in tandem as Pride's personality, the shadows are not a different creature even though they did not listen to Pride at the beginning, they were merely reacting to his unconscious mind rather than his conscious.

**The deal with messing with Pride's eyes before/after the interludes:** Now, ever since chapter 2 people have been confuzzled about why Pride damaged his eyes because he said he couldn't cry, and yet throughout the fic he cries quite a lot. This, and his later developing of a fever that made him go take a nap and caused the mega dream flashback to occur, are related to the events that occur in-dream before or after the interludes. Now, Pride's fevers come from either damaging his eyes (interludes one and three), or because of something upsetting him a great deal that leads to him either developing insomnia (interlude 2) or hypersomnia (interlude 4) afterwards. Now, the eye damage is not the cause of the fevers, rather that the eye damage or the upsetting event greatly distresses Baby Pride, to the extent that he causes the fever, or in the case of hearing the news of Lust's death, he had an aneurism and died, which resulted in Pride's container passing out, and then the fever developed because of his grieving. Pride's actions in chapter 2 cause his fever in the way of interlude 1 and 3, even though he was perfectly capable of crying but just refused to because of what he said to himself the day after Lust died (obviously everything he said from chapter 1 and 2 was a recently concocted lie).

**The Homunculi's birthdays:** I wanted the birthdays of the homunculi season wise to go in a repeating pattern (spring autumn summer winter spring autumn summer), as well as for the homunculi who share a season to either have a connection (Lust and Gluttony, Pride and Sloth), or a rivalry on themes within the series (Greed and Wrath both being human based at one point). Poor Envy as the middle child is all on his lonesome ^^; Coincidentally, as I didn't check this until after all the homunculi had been born, all the homunculi were created on a Tuesday or a Thursday, weird ^^;

And of course there's the whole Armstrong family being able to have sparkles and the family came from the Royal Family, that's why Pride can make Armstrong sparkles because of assimilating Sylvia lol. I kid, but him and Wrath having them is kinda strange ^^

Hm, one thing I never went into was Pride's ability to imitate the voices of others like when he possessed Alphonse. However, I thought that was just a side effect of the possession and that it was not something he had learned to do in the past. Hence why I didn't include it or make a reference to it ^_^

Again, thank you all so much for reading right until the end. I probably will rewrite some of my early chapters in the future sometime; if anyone wants me to tell them when I've rewritten a chapter just let me know :)

I won't ramble any more or else I'll never stop, but it's been fun ^^ I won't be disappearing forever though; I still have my collaboration with Moofy-fan to work on next year :3 I just know that's going to be a lot of fun to write. I hope to see you all in the future.


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